Organizational Information Systems

Chapter 7

Chapter Objectives• Describe characteristics that differentiate

operational, managerial, and executive levels

• Explain characteristics of the three levels of IS: TPS, MIS, and EIS

• Describe characteristics of three IS that span levels: DSS, expert systems, and office automation

• Explain the general IS needs of organizational functional areas

Different Types of Information Require Different Types of Systems

• Organizational levels– Operational– Managerial– Executive

• Different levels have different information needs

Levels of an Organization

Operational Level

• Where the routine day-to-day interaction with customers occurs

• Information system– Automates repetitive activities– Improves efficiency of the customer interface

• Decisions – Highly structured – Repetitive

Operational Level

Managerial Level

• Where functional managers monitor operations

• Information system– Provides summary information of operational

activities

• Decisions – Moderately complex– Time horizon up to a few months– Semi-structured

Managerial Level

Executive Level

• Where long-term strategic issues are decided

• Information systems– Aggregate summaries– Statistical analyses, trends, and projections

• Decisions – Very complex – Long-term ramifications– Unstructured

Executive Level

General Types of Information Systems

• All Information Systems use the basic systems model– Input, process, and output

• Levels of business information systems– Transaction Processing Systems– Management Information Systems– Executive Information Systems

Transaction Processing Systems

• Process business transactions– Transactions: events that occur as a regular part of

business day-to-day operations

• Used at operational level• Goals

– Automate repetitive information processing activities to increase speed and accuracy

– Lower the cost of processing– Make the organization more efficient

Activities of TPS

• Payroll processing

• Sales– Online– Batch

Architecture of a Transaction Processing System

Forms of TPS Data Entry

• Manual

• Semi-automated

• Fully automated

Management Information Systems

• Support the ongoing decision-making activities of a business or functional area

• Used at managerial level• Goals

– Help managers make more effective decisions– Get the right information to the right person in

the right format at the right time

Activities of MIS

• Sales forecasting

• Financial management and forecasting

• Manufacturing planning and scheduling

• Inventory management and planning

• Advertising and product pricing

Architecture of a Management Information System

Executive Information Systems

• Provide information for long-term decision making

• Used at executive level

• Goals– To provide aggregate information– To provide information that can be quickly

scanned for trends and anomalies

Activities of EIS

• Executive-level decision-making

• Long-range and strategic planning

• Monitoring internal and external events, and resources

• Crisis management

• Staffing and labor relations

Architecture of an Executive Information System

Information Systems that Span Organizational Boundaries

• Decision support systems

• Expert systems

• Office automation systems

• Functional area IS

Boundary-spanning IS

Decision Support Systems

• Special-purpose systems

• Designed to solve a recurring problem

• Support semi-structured problems

• Use decision analysis tools

• Allows user to examine alternative solutions – What-if analysis

Architecture of a Decision Support System

Expert Systems

• Use knowledge of a subject to solve problems or provide advise

• Mimic human expertise• Human knowledge represented by

codifying facts and rule• Examples

– Financial planning– Computer help desk

Architecture of a Expert System

Office Automation Systems• Develop documents

– Word processing– Desktop publishing

• Schedule resources– Electronic calendars

• Communicate– Electronic and voice mail– Video conferencing– Groupware

Architecture of an Office Automation System

Functional Area Information Systems