Business driven information systems 4th edition chapter 1

Business process reengineering BPR is the analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises and occurs at the systems level or companywide level and the end-to-end view of a process. Business process management BPM systems focus on evaluating and improving processes that include both person-toperson workflow and system-to-system communications.

BPM systems include advanced features such as enhanced process modeling, simulation, execution, and monitoring, providing a high level of flexibility while reducing costs. The subscriber is successful and hangs up the phone happy. However, on February 22nd the cable at the current home is disconnected and the customer is no longer happy. The customer service representative forgot to change the date of the disconnection and only changed the date of the activation. Practically speaking, these two events will almost always be linked - and the system probably should have prompted the customer service representative to ask if they were.

Choose one of the processes, break your students into groups, and ask them to reengineer the process. How would they change it to make it more effective or more efficient? Be sure to have them diagram the As-Is process and the To-Be process. Have them present their reengineered processes to the class. Ask your students to break into groups and discuss examples of broken processes that are currently causing them pain.

The process can be a university process, mail-order process, Internet-order process, return merchandise process, etc. Ask your students to agree on one of the broken processes and to reengineer the process. Bring in a large roll of brown package wrapping paper and masking tape. Give each group two large pieces of the paper and ask them to tape the paper to the wall.

More than 40, people die every year in motor vehicle crashes, and research indicates that failures of attention - including distractions or drowsiness probably played a role in most of those crashes. In one case he studied, a driver looked away from the road for 6 seconds to tap out a text message on her phone, slipped out of her lane and came to attention only when the tires hit the curb.

Would this type of technology benefit your student drivers? Break your students into groups and ask them to create a product that could help drivers pay greater attention to driving and less attention to gadgets. Using AI driven vehicles the DOD will be able to send vehicles into dangerous situations without endangering any soldiers.

By offering a generous prize, along with notoriety the DOD is able to get many of the greatest minds in the country working on creating autonomous vehicles. It is a win-win. The DOD receives the technology and the winning team receives a prize and notoriety.

Describe how autonomous vehicles could be used by organizations around the world to improve business efficiency and effectiveness. There are numerous ways that autonomous vehicles could be used around by businesses from making deliveries, transporting goods and services to taking employees to and from the airport.

The uses are limitless. The Ansari X is another technological innovation competition focusing on spacecraft. Describe the potential business impacts of the Ansari X competition. Space travel is the next exciting frontier. Business impacts could range from vacation trips to the moon to picking up space materials for the production of goods and services. The competition could also inspire other types of competition such as underwater houses and personal flying machines.

Knowledge: Define the three primary types of decision-making systems, and explain how a customer of Actionly might use them to find business intelligence. Managerial decisions cover short- and mediumrange plans, schedules, and budgets along with policies, procedures, and business objectives for the firm. Transactional information encompasses all of the information contained within a single business process or unit of work, and its primary purpose is to support the performing of daily operational tasks.

Analytical information encompasses all organizational information, and its primary purpose is to support the performing of managerial analysis tasks. Actionly is using transactional information to make analytical decisions. The analytical decisions that are made from this information include determining product success to service success.

Application: Illustrate the business process model used by a customer of Actionly following Twitter tweets. Student answers to this question will vary. Be sure they included the following in their business process model Gather data Identify followers Identify Tweets — posting, time, content. Correlate Tweets to action including purchases, services, or returns 4. Analysis: Explain business process reengineering and how Actionly used it to create its unique business model.

Potential metrics include: - Number of followers - Number of Tweets - Number of posts - Number of friends - Number of recommendations - Number of sales - Number of customers 6. Evaluation: Argue for or against the following statement: Actionly invades customer privacy by taking data from different websites such as Twitter and Flickr without the consent of the customer that posed the information.

Student answer to this question will vary. This statement makes for a great classroom debate! These types of decisions are considered semistructured decisions; they occur in situations in which a few established processes help to evaluate potential solutions, but not enough to lead to a. Comprehension: Describe the difference between transactional and analytical information, and determine which types Spotlight Analysis used to identify its 10 tribes.

Spotlight is using transactional information to make analytical decisions. The analytical decisions that are made from this information include determining swing voters and important areas for Obama to campaign. Application: Illustrate the business process model used to identify the 10 tribes. Be sure they included the following in their business process model Gather data — neighborhood details, family sizes, spending patterns Identify persons of voting age — million people Identify common mindsets — God, community, responsibility, opportunity Identify Barn Raisers — 14 million Target with political campaign 4.

Synthesis: Formulate different metrics the Obama team used to measure the success of political microtargeting. Analyzing data was at the core of the Obama campaign and without metrics the campaign would not have been able to tell if they were on track or not.

Potential metrics include: - Number of democratic voters targeted to vote democratic - Number of republican voters targeted to vote republican - Number of democratic voters targeted as undecided.

Number of republican voters targeted as undecided Percentage of voters for Obama Percentage of voters against Obama. Evaluation: Argue for or against the following statement: Political micro-targeting signals the dehumanization of politics. Some will also feel that so much data on American citizens is a violation of privacy. How could financial companies use neural networks in Second Life to help their businesses? A neural network, also called an artificial neural network, is a category of AI that attempts to emulate the way the human brain works.

The types of decisions for which neural networks are most useful are those that involve pattern or image recognition because a neural network can learn from the information it processes. Neural networks analyze large quantities of information to establish patterns and characteristics in situations where the logic or rules are unknown.

The finance industry is a veteran in neural network technology and has been relying on various forms of it for over two decades. The industry uses neural networks to review loan applications and create patterns or profiles of applications that fall into two categories: approved or denied. One neural network has become the standard for detecting credit card fraud.

Since , this technology has slashed fraud by 70 percent for U. Now, even small credit unions are required to use the software in order to qualify for debit-card insurance from Credit Union National Association. Additional examples of neural networks include: Citibank uses neural networks to find opportunities in financial markets.

By carefully examining historical stock market data with neural network software, Citibank financial managers learn of interesting coincidences or small anomalies called market inefficiencies.

For example, it could be that whenever IBM stock goes up, so does Unisys stock. Or it might be that a U. Treasury note is selling for 1 cent less in Japan than it is in the United States. In Westminster, California, a community of 87, people, police use neural network software to fight crime. With crime reports as input, the system detects and maps local crime patterns.

Police say that with this system they can better predict crime trends, improve patrol assignments, and develop better crime prevention programs.

Fingerhut, the mail-order company based in Minnesota, has 6 million people on its customer list. To determine which customers were and were not likely to order from its catalog, Fingerhut recently switched to neural network software.

The company finds that the new software is more effective and expects to generate millions of dollars by fine-tuning its mailing lists. Fraud detection widely uses neural networks. Visa, MasterCard, and many other credit card companies use a neural network to spot peculiarities in individual accounts. Many insurance companies Cigna, AIG, Travelers, Liberty Mutual, Hartford along with state compensation funds and other carriers use neural network software to identify fraud.

The system searches for patterns in billing charges, laboratory tests, and frequency of office visits. A claim for which the diagnosis was a sprained ankle but included an electrocardiogram would be flagged for the account manager. FleetBoston Financial Corporation uses a neural network to watch transactions with customers. Lending themselves to massive parallel processing. Functioning without complete or well-structured information.

How could a company such as Nike use decision support systems on Second Life to help its business? A decision support system DSS models information to support managers and business professionals during the decision-making process. Three quantitative models are typically used by DSSs: 1 sensitivity analysis, 2 what-if analysis, and 3 goal-seeking analysis. Nike could use any of these three types of models to help its business. By asking questions to Second Life customers it could run these models to help it make business decisions.

Sensitivity analysis is the study of the impact that changes in one or more parts of the model have on other parts of the model. Users change the value of one variable repeatedly and observe the resulting changes in other variables. What-if analysis checks the impact of a change in an assumption on the proposed solution.

Goal-seeking analysis finds the inputs necessary to achieve a goal such as a desired level of output. Instead of observing how changes in a variable affect other variables as in what-if analysis, goal-seeking analysis sets a target value a goal for a variable and then repeatedly changes other variables until the target value is achieved.

How could an apparel company use Second Life to build a digital dashboard to monitor virtual operations? A common feature of an executive information system is a digital dashboard.

Digital dashboards integrate information from multiple components and tailor the information to individual preferences. Digital dashboards commonly use indicators to help executives quickly identify the status of key information or critical success factors.

A company could build a digital dashboard on Second Life to monitor a virtual store. It could track and monitor everything that it could track in a real store including: Number of customers Types of customers Time spent in store Number of items avatar looked at in the store Number of interactions with store avatars Number of items purchased Revenue per sale 4.

How could a company use Second life to revamp its customer service process? By gaining feedback on the product or service from Second Life. Many companies are using Second Life to pilot virtual products. In the American Apparel store you can view clothes that are at the real store and. By operating in a virtual world you can change the virtual inventory in minutes and determine customer interaction instantaneously.

With a virtual world you will not experience any of the problems we have in the real world with travel. A trip to Japan, China, or Australia can cost a company thousands and thousands of dollars in airfare, hotels, taxis, food, etc. Not to mention employee time. Back Continue. Rent or purchase for a fraction of the printed textbook price Easily highlight, take notes and search Download the free ReadAnywhere App for offline access and anytime reading Watch a quick video to learn more Note: the eBook does not include access to Connect.

If your instructor assigned Connect, click the "Digital" tab. Rent for a fraction of the printed textbook price Rental transaction occurs through McGraw Hill's authorized rental partner.

Purchase un-bound 3-ring binder ready textbook Flexibility and ease of selecting chapters to take where you want to go What are my shipping options? Personalize your learning, save time completing homework, and possibly earn a better grade Access to eBook, homework and adaptive assignments, videos, and study resources Download free ReadAnywhere App for offline access to eBook for anytime reading Connect may be assigned as part of your grade.

Check with your instructor to see if Connect is used in your course. Program Details. View Changes. Learn more. How to Access Instructor Tools for your Course. Your text has great instructor tools — like presentation slides, instructor manuals, test banks and more. Follow the steps below to access your instructor resources or watch the step-by-step video.

To get started, you'll need to visit connect. If you do not have an account, you'll need to request one from your MH rep. To find your rep — visit the Find Your Rep page. Then, under "Find a Title," you'll search by title, author or subject.

Select your desired title and create a course. Note — you do not have to create assignments, just a course instance Then go to your Connect course homepage.

In the top navigation, select library to access the instructor resources that accompany the title. In future editions, this rubric will be reformatted to increase accessibility and usability. Program Features.

Effectiveness MIS metrics measure the impact MIS has on business processes and activities, including customer satisfaction and customer conversion rates. Efficiency MIS metrics measure the impact MIS has on business processes and activities, including customer satisfaction and customer conversion rates.

Best practices are the most successful solutions or problem-solving methods that have been developed by a specific organization or industry. MIS support systems rely on models for computational and analytical routines that mathematically express relationships among variables. Streamlining information encompasses all of the information contained within a single business process or unit of work, and its primary purpose is to support the performing of daily operational or structured decisions.

Sensitivity analysis, what-if analysis, optimization analysis, and market basket analysis are the common DSS analysis techniques. Digital dashboards offer consolidation, drill-down, and slice-and-dice capabilities. Managers use transactional information when making structured decisions at the operational level. The manipulation of information to create business intelligence in support of strategic decision making is referred to as OLTP or online transaction processing.

Granularity refers to the level of detail in the model or the decision-making process. Visualization produces graphical displays of patterns and complex relationships in large amounts of data. A digital dashboard produces graphical displays of patterns and complex relationships in large amounts of data. Intelligent systems are various commercial applications of artificial intelligence. A neural network is a category of efficiency metrics where it attempts to measure the way the human brain works.

Investment companies use genetic effectiveness metrics to help in trading decisions. Fuzzy logic is a mathematical method of handling imprecise or subjective information. Fuzzy logic is the process within a genetic algorithm of randomly trying combinations and evaluating the success or failure of the outcome. Mutation is the process within a genetic algorithm of randomly trying combinations and evaluating the success or failure of the outcome.

Mutation is a mathematical method of handling imprecise or subjective information. Virtual reality is a computer-simulated environment that can be a simulation of the real world or an imaginary world.

Augmented reality is the viewing of the physical world with computer-generated layers of information added to it.

Augmented reality is a computer-simulated environment that can be a simulation of the real world or an imaginary world. Virtual reality is the viewing of the physical world with computer-generated layers of information added to it. Business-facing processes or back-office processes are invisible to the external customer but essential to the effective management and operation of the business. When evaluating the 5-steps in the order-to-delivery business process, step one includes creating a campaign and checking inventory, which are both part of the sales function.

Core processes are business processes, such as manufacturing goods, selling products, and providing services that make up the primary activities in a value chain. Core processes are patents that protect a specific set of procedures for conducting a particular business activity. A business process patent is a patent that protects a specific set of procedures for conducting a particular business activity. A business management system is a graphic description of a process, showing the sequence of process tasks, which is developed for a specific purpose and from a selected viewpoint.

To-Be process models show the results of applying change improvement opportunities to the current As-Is process model. The primary goal of an As-Is process model is to simplify, eliminate, and improve the ToBe processes. Business processes should never drive MIS choices and should be based on business strategies and goals. A swim lane layout arranges the steps of a business process into a set of rows depicting the various elements.

A swim lane layout arranges the steps of a business process into a circle with pictures showing the process flows. Business process reengineering is the analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises. Business process management systems evaluate and improve processes that include both person-to-person workflow and system-to-system communications.

BPM systems include advanced features such as enhanced process modeling, simulation, execution, and monitoring, providing a high level of flexibility while reducing costs. Multiple Choice Questions Which of the following is a not a type of organizational information system? Executive information system B. Decisions support system C. Analysis processing system D. Transactional processing system. Which of the below is an important challenge facing managers today? Making business decision B.

Solving business problems C. All of the above. Make decisions to gain competitive advantages B. Make decisions that can help forecast future business needs C. Make decisions that can help forecast future business requirements D. Which of the below is not considered a challenge facing most managers today?

Managerial decisions must be made quickly B. Strategic decisions need to be made by applying analysis techniques C. Artificial intelligence is required by all managers to be successful D. Managerial decisions require large amounts of information to analyze. Which of the following is not included in the decision-making process?

Data Collection B. Solution Benchmarking C. Solution Generation D. Solution Test. When evaluating the six-step decision making process, what occurs during the solution implementation step? The process will begin again if the decisions made were incorrect B.

Defining the problem as clearly and precisely as possible C. Details of every solution possible including ideas that seem far fetched D. The solution that best solves the problem is selected. When evaluating the six-step decision making process, what occurs during the problem identification step?

When evaluating the six-step decision making process, what occurs during the solution selection step? When evaluating the six-step decision making process, what occurs during the solution test step? None of the above. Which of the below represents the structure of a typical organization? Flat line B.

Pyramid C. Circle D. Which of the below represents the three different levels of a company pyramid from the top to the bottom? Managerial — Strategic — Operational B. Strategic — Managerial — Operational C. Operational — Managerial — Strategic D. Strategic — Operational - Managerial. Which of the below would you include as decisions and responsibilities typically found at the managerial level of a company?

Monthly Plans B. Monthly Budgets C. Weekly Schedule D. Which of the below would you include as decisions and responsibilities typically found at the operational level of a company? Develop core business activities required to run the day-to-day operations B. Control core business activities required to run the day-to-day operations C. Maintain core business activities required to run the day-to-day operations D.

Data collection, solution generation, and solution implementation are all concepts associated which of the following processes? The six-step problem solving process B. The six-step decision making process C. The four-step problem solving process D. The four-step decision making process. Review the below key terms. Which one defines an operational decision that involves situations where established processes offer potential solutions?

Optimization analysis decision B. Artificial intelligence decision C. Structured decision D. Unstructured decision. Review the below statements. Which one does not represent an example of a structured decision? Reordering inventory B. Deciding to enter a new market C. Creating the employee weekly staffing schedule D.

Creating the employee weekly production schedule. Which of the below is not considered a part of decision making at the managerial level? Installing productivity software B. Creating a short-term budget C. Allocating resources to a department D. Monitoring performance of a project team. Which of the below key terms represents the types of decisions made at the operational, managerial, and strategic levels of a company? Structured decisions B. Unstructured decisions C. Semistructured decisions D.

At which level do managers develop the overall business strategies and monitor the performance of the organization and the competitive business environment? Operational B. Strategic C. Managerial D. Jenny Welch works at a retail store selling sports equipment. Her daily tasks include opening the store, creating the work schedules, processing payroll, overseeing sales and inventory, and training employees.