วันจันทร์ที่ 6 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2555

Chapter 11 Information Systems

Examples of information sytems in .... Business.

Information Systems : Dominos Pizza

What does the organisation do?

Domino's Pizza is an international organisation that specialises in pizza delivery.

What human activity system within the organization does the IS support?

The human activity system within the organisation is in charge of handling data passed on by staff working at dominos. This unprocessed information consists of:

Price/cost. The both the customer and sales department will have the price and cost distributed to them in a form of a receipt. The sales department will store this information into a database to be used for calculating the business income of the restaurant.
Table number. The waiting staff will need to know the table number of the customer as they will need to know where the order will be held.
Date and time. The restaurant office will be informed of when the order of each customer was taken place
Payment. The method of payment will be passed onto the restaurant office to inform them how the transaction took place.

What data does Domino's Pizza IS gather?

Domino's information system is a highly complex one that must deal with high priority requests quickly and safely, ensuring that its messages reach its destination. An example would be orders for food. The information that the IS must gather in this use case is:

The food that was ordered, i.e pizza, drinks, sides
The address of the customer
The name of the customer
The customer's phone number
Payment details; have they paid by card already, or will they pay on delivery?

What else might they gather?

The information gathered above was needed for a branch of Domino's Pizza's day to day operations. But the IS also gathers data from all the branches within a sector and sends it to head office, allowing them to gather statistics, such as:

How many pizzas were sold?
Which types sold most?
When were they sold?
What were the total takings for the day?
What was the average number of items in an order?

And so on. This information is collected and sent automatically, and this allows head office to have an overview of their business at all times. This lets them calculate their best move in the highly competitive market: Should we begin a half price campaign? Where? Or should we develop a new type of pizza? Do we need to open a new branch here, or close that one there?

What processing is done by the IS to turn data into information?

The data that is transformed into information by the information consists of:

Secretary. The secretary is in charge of overseeing all transactions and procedures of the business including calculating business income of the restaurant by using the data of all previous figures and processing it into comprehendible information i.e. monthly sales figures. The secretary also takes the customers' order and processes this information whilst passing it to the pizza makers for them to produce the pizzas.

What information does the Domino's restaurant IS distribute?

The information that our chosen system (Domino's restaurant ordering system) distributes is the:

Customer order information: This information would be distributed between the cooking staff (so they can prepare the food) and this information would also be distributed to the waitering staff (so the correct food can be taken out to the customer).
Price/cost of order: This information would be distributed to both the customer (in the form of a receipt) and the sales department (on a database to be stored for calculating the businesses income) of the restaurant.
The table number: This information would be distributed to the kitchen however this information would only be useful to the waitering staff as they need to know where the order is going.
Date and time of order: This information would be distributed to the restaurant office to inform them of when the order was placed.
How the customer paid: This information would also be passed onto the restaurant office to inform them of how customers paid for their meals (i.e. cash or debit card).

Who uses the information that is produced?

The information produced can be used by many people throughout the organisations. It is used by the chefs to know all about what is to be cooked and the demand the public has for it.
It is used by the waiters so they know which customers have ordered what food, at what time and furthermore where they are sitting. The information could also be used by the manager and other high position staff for tasks such as ordering extra ingredients and stock for what is the most popular dishes (as well as which will need restocking and which dishes may need to be ordered less in future). Company managers may also look on the information systems for details on profits and whether the restaurant is as popular and busy as it needs to be in order to stay in profit.

Source : Dominal Pizza

วันจันทร์ที่ 30 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2555

Chapter 10 Information Technology

Advantages of Information Technology

Information technology refers to the study and development of a support-management based, computerized information system. The development is mainly observed in the form of dedicated software applications and a number of hardware programs. The advantages of IT include work place cost-effectiveness and essential globalization.

Why is Information Technology Important

All our work related applications are now completely automated, thanks to the IT sector. IT professionals are people involved in essential management of sensitive data, exclusive computer networking and systems-engineering. The advancement of the IT sector has resulted in automated:

Administration of entire systems.

Production and manipulation of sensitive information.

Cultural development and communication.

Streamlining of business processes and timely upgrades.

Advantages of Information Technology

• Globalization
True globalization has come about only via this automated system. The creation of one interdependent system helps us to share information and end linguistic barriers across the continents. The collapse of geographic boundaries has made the world a 'global village'. The technology has not only made communication cheaper, but also possible much quicker and round the clock. The wonders of text messages, email and auto-response, backed by computer security applications, have opened up scope for direct communication.

• Cost-effective
Computerized, internet business processes have made many businesses turn to the Internet for increased productivity, greater profitability, clutter free working conditions and global clientèle. It is mainly due to the IT industry that business have been able to make their processes more streamlined, thereby becoming more cost-effective and consequently more profitable. People are able to operate their businesses 24x7, even from remote locations only due to the advent of information technology.

• Communication
Quick and effective communication is vital to any business anywhere in the world. Information technology gives an entrepreneur or business the tools, like email, video conferencing, SMS, etc., essential to communicate efficiently and effectively. to the business world, and information technology gives your company the resources it needs to communicate quickly and effectively. Not only do people connect faster with the help of information technology, but they are also able to identify like-minded individuals and extend help, while strengthening ties.

• Storing and Protecting Information
IT provides a low-cost business options to store and maintain information that may be important from a business or service point of view. Virtual vaults and other such security systems not only store vital data but also allow control over the access to such information. IT security systems will also protect virtual data from being hacked or wiped out in case of any technical failure.

• Creation of New Jobs
One of the biggest advantage of IT has been the creation of a whole new field of opportunity for skilled personnel leading to new and interesting jobs. Hardware and software developers, computer programmers, web designers, system analyst, the list of new jobs created could go on. IT has also been attributed to be the major cause of surge in the economies of certain Third World nations too.

Information Technology Cons

It has taken away people’s Privacy

As IT-Sectors have wined the people’s heart worldwide. People are here to share and store any kind of information, private date in their hard drives and private online databases. But due to some Cyber-Criminals, nothing is SO Safe both online and offline. If someone becomes a bit careless, s/he may needs to pay high for it. (It’s serious).

The online community is not safe for Family anymore

Children under age may often share Cell Numbers, Private Email Address which can be hacked by people and can pass it to the criminals who have a blue-print to harm the society. And people are loosing credit card privacy and other payment processing options. Again, there are some sites created by Nasty Guys, which can lead under eighteen teenagers to a different path – That Is Going To Bring Harms To The Nation.

It is going to damage a Human’s Natural Power

We can think, gather human principles (ethical knowledge) and make co-operative relationships between friends and families. But due to harmful aspects of (IT) people are becoming fully technological based. And it can bring huge damage to the society as its taking away the natural thoughts and organic ideas.

It can bring World Destruction without Efficient Administration

This is an extra point which I am writing by remembering various Science Fictions. Great scholars have though about the matter wisely. Til now, we (humans) are possessing the leading place in the world and administering the computer technology. But a day MAY come when the technology is going to administer us in all aspects. It may probably happen that we are converted to the slaves of Technology.

Sources : advantages-of-information-technology , disadvan_informationtechnology

Chapter 9 Characteristics of good websites

What makes a website successful? Keep the following points in mind when creating your website to get the most out of it:

Content

Quality content on your website can provide users with the information they are looking for. Content also allows you to establish yourself as an expert in your field. When your website visitors are looking to make a purchase they will feel more comfortable with your products and services if you have built their trust and confidence through what you have written on your website.

Keyword-filled content is also crucial for getting high search engine rankings. Most internet users trust search engines to help them find what they are looking for. Taking the time to create high quality content can have huge payoffs through increased search engine rankings.

Simple and Attractive Design

The design of a good website should be simple, yet professional. The design should not take away or distract from the content. Websites with excessive use of Flash and moving images can be very distracting. Use design to help you get your message to visitors, not to distract them from the message. Colors should not be hard on the eyes, and text should be easy to read.

Easy Navigation

Navigation and links provide opportunities to incorporate design elements in to the website; however, navigation schemes should not be so elaborate that the user has trouble knowing where to click to move to another page. The average visitor’s attention span is a matter of seconds, and if it is hard to find what he or she is looking for, you will loose that visitor very quickly. Links to your most important pages should be easily found on every page. A good rule of thumb is that every page should be accessible in two clicks from your home page (this may not be possible with larger sites).

Unique

The most successful websites will stand out from the crowd. There are a number of was that you can make your website stand out: better design, high quality articles, a blog, a newsletter, some type of resource or tool. Find something that would be appealing to your target market.

Fresh

Having a website that changes or is updated frequently will encourage repeat visitors. Repeat visitors will be more loyal and more likely to buy. There are a few different options for keeping your site fresh:

1- Update the site and add content occasionally – This will require you to either pay a designer or do the work yourself.

2 – Use a blog – With a blog you can add content to your website from any computer with an internet connection. All you’ll have to do is login and type. No special software or skills are required.

3 – RSS feeds – With RSS feeds you can add news headlines, weather, stock tickers, etc. to your website. Additionally, you can add content from most blogs to your site with RSS. The benefit of RSS feeds is that once in place they will automatically update.

Optimized

A successful website will be search engine-friendly. Optimization includes things like using page titles and meta tags for all of your pages. Using headers and alt tags for images can also help optimization and accessibility. Even a website that is strong in other areas but weak in optimization may be hard for users to find.

Examples for good website!!

Amazon is nothing less than a revolution in how the world shops. It is a huge step forward in the achievement of an ideal competitive market. It is user-friendly, vast, and reliable.

Bias information

Description

When we are trying to make a decision, we generally seek data on which to rationally base the choice. Where this goes wrong, is when we assume that all information is useful, and that 'more is better'.

Sometimes, extra information adds no significant value. Sometimes it simply serves to confuse.

RESEARCH

Baron, Beattie, and Hershey (1988), gave subjects a diagnostic problem involving fictitious symptoms, tests and diseases. Many subjects said they would need additional tests even when they had sufficient data.

EXAMPLE

A manager gets consultants to do a study of the marketplace when a third party report is already available at far less cost.

SO WHAT?

Using it

When you want people to pay attention to your information, even when they have other information you may well be able to present it, for example as 'new findings'.

You can also deliberately create overload by encouraging people to seek more and more data.

Defending

Think first about what information you need and go for that which is just sufficient and necessary.

Example of Bias information.....

Bestiality is the act of engaging in sexual relations with an animal. The Wikipedia project was initiated by atheist Jimmy Wales and the agnosticphilosophy professor Larry Sanger on January 15, 2001. An irony of internet history is that Jimmy Wales, despite being an atheist, refers to himself as Wikipedia's "spiritual leader". Despite its official "neutrality policy," Wikipedia has a strong liberal bias.

วันจันทร์ที่ 17 ตุลาคม พ.ศ. 2554

Chapter 8 Search engine

How do search engines work?

Ans. Search engines are basically computer algorithms which help users find the specific information they’re looking for. With literally trillions of pages of information online, without effective search engines, finding anything on the Internet would be almost impossible. Different search engines work in different specific ways, but they all utilize the same basic principles.
The first thing search engines have to do in order to function is to make a local database of, basically, the Internet. Early search engines just indexed keywords and titles of pages, but contemporary search engines index all of the text on every page, as well as a great deal of other data about that page’s relation to other pages, and in some cases all or a portion of the media available on the page as well. Search engines need to index all of this information so that they can run searches on it efficiently, rather than having to run around the Internet every time a search query is sent.
Search engines create these databases by performing periodic crawls of the Internet. Early search engines often required pages to be submitted to them in order to crawl them, but now most pages are found by following links from other pages. What are called robots or spiders, computer programs built to index pages, flit from page to page, recording all of the data on the page, and following every link to new pages. Different search engines refresh their indexes at different intervals, depending on how many spiders they constantly have crawling, and how fast those spiders crawl, with some working their way through the Internet every day or two, and others only doing a periodic refresh every week or month.
As the spider goes through these pages, it records the words it finds on the pages. It makes notes about how many times each word appears, whether the words are weighted in certain ways, perhaps based on size, location, or HTML markup, and decides how relevant the words are based on the links that come in to the page, and on the general context of the page.
Search engines then must weight the value of each page, and the value of each page for the words that appear on it. This is the trickiest part of what a search engine has to do, but also the most important. At the most simple level a search engine could simply keep track of every word on the page, and record that page as relevant for searches with that keyword. This wouldn't do much good for most users, however, as what is desired is the most relevant page for their search query. So different search engines come up with different ways of weighting importance.

how-do-search-engines-work

Examples of 5 search engines on internet.

1. google