IGNOU Free Solved Assignments (MCA -52) 2010
IGNOU Free Solved Assignments (MCA -52) 2010
Course Code : MCS-052
Course Title : Principles of Management and Information
Systems
Assignment Number : MCA(5)/052/Assign/2010
Maximum Marks : 100
Weightage : 25%
Last Date of Submission : 15th April, 2010 (For January Session)
15th October, 2010 (For July Session)
This assignment has seven questions. Answer all questions, carries 80 marks. Rest 20 marks are for viva voce. You may use illustrations and diagrams to enhance the explanations. Please go through the guidelines regarding assignments given in the Programme Guide for the format of presentation. Answer to each part of the question should be confined to about 350 words.
Question 1: Explain what you mean by Management Information System (MIS). Discuss the role of MIS in an organization? Describe the important components of MIS.
Solution: .A management information system (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls a business covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management accountants to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization.[1] Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information systems.[1]
It has been described as, "MIS 'lives' in the space that intersects technology and business. MIS combines tech with business to get people the information they need to do their jobs better/faster/smarter. Information is the lifeblood of all organizations – now more than ever. MIS professionals work as systems analysts, project managers, systems administrators, etc., communicating directly with staff and management across the organization
Role of MIS in an organization
Modern business is spurred on by technology and innovation. The driving force behind these two things is information and how it is used. For decades, business used information as a strategic tool to grow customer base, market share, cut costs and to gain the overall target of increased profits and efficiency. In the modern environment, information on its own isn't enough, what's required is a way to use this information properly, keep it secure and to make it accessible to the appropriate parties. To do this, a new strategic asset has been developed. The new asset is Information Technology and in the business context it's called Management Information Systems (MIS).
Componet of MIS
HardwARE
Input and output devices constitute the hardware components of MIS
Software
The programs and applications that convert data into machine-readable language are known as software
Procedures
Procedures are sets of rules or guidelines, which an organization establishes for the use of a omputer-based information system
Personnel
The computer experts, managers, users, analysts, programmers, database managers, and many other computer professionals who utilize the computer-based information systems are the personnel in a management information system
Question 2.
An entrepreneur is a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome.[note 1] The term is originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to the type of personality who is willing to take upon herself or himself a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome. Jean-Baptiste Say, a French economist is believed to have coined the word "entrepreneur" first in about 1800. He said an entrepreneur is "one who undertakes an enterprise, especially a contractor, acting as intermediatory between capital and labour
The economy has changed, and with these changes our communities must adapt themselves to some new realities.Traditionally, economic development, rooted in the post-World War II era, attempted to build our export base by subsidizing firms to locate manufacturing employment in our communities. This was fueled by cheap inputs—land and labor, national-scale competition, and low-skilled workers. Recruitment of industry received the most resources based on the potential to have significant impacts on the local economy.
To a lesser degree, some communities also established programs to work with the existing business base to retain and expand what was already in place. Finally, to a limited extent, some communities supported local small business startups, primarily spin-offs and ventures from the existing business sector. Overall, this model is characterized as fiercely competitive locally as well as across the country.
By contrast, a contemporary strategy builds a solid foundation of entrepreneurship. Long ignored because the impacts were small, diffuse, and incremental, entrepreneurship has been characterized as economic “gardening” as opposed to “hunting.” Think of it as tending to the seedbed in one’s own back yard as opposed to going out to bag that one trophy animal.
Business growth, and sustaining the health of existing businesses, is also important in this model. More than a simple effort to retain and expand businesses, this strategy respects that business survival means maintaining a competitive edge regardless of size. The goal is supporting the existing business community in sustaining a viable enterprise by constantly seeking one’s competitive advantage.
Finally, the attraction strategy in the new model is broad and contemporary. It applies to attracting new enterprises, both goods-producing and knowledge-based. It also includes attracting different “business anchors” such as senior housing, educational enterprises, and visitors and retirees. These are less traditional but effective, ways of increasing the flow of resources into the economy from outside. This model recognizes that the success of one’s neighbors spillover into one’s own borders.
Cheap land and labor are no longer what is being sold. Rather it is knowledge workers and a culture of innovation. This model also acknowledges that few places possess enough assets on their own to compete for and support new, existing, and emerging businesses. It’s about regions, networks, clusters and innovation. Its about entrepreneurship!
A management information system (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by management accountants to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization.[1] Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert systems, and Executive information systems.[1]
It has been described as, "MIS 'lives' in the space that intersects technology and business. MIS combines tech with business to get people the information they need to do their jobs better/faster/smarter. Information is the lifeblood of all organizations – now more than ever. MIS professionals work as systems analysts, project managers, systems administrators, etc., communicating directly with staff and management across the organization
Question 3.Artificial Intelligence (AI) is usually defined as the science of making computers do things that require intelligence when done by humans. AI has had some success in limited, or simplified, domains. However, the five decades since the inception of AI have brought only very slow progress, and early optimism concerning the attainment of human-level intelligence has given way to an appreciation of the profound difficulty of the problem.
What is Intelligence?
Quite simple human behaviour can be intelligent yet quite complex behaviour performed by insects is unintelligent. What is the difference? Consider the behaviour of the digger wasp, Sphex ichneumoneus. When the female wasp brings food to her burrow, she deposits it on the threshold, goes inside the burrow to check for intruders, and then if the coast is clear carries in the food. The unintelligent nature of the wasp's behaviour is revealed if the watching experimenter moves the food a few inches while the wasp is inside the burrow checking. On emerging, the wasp repeats the whole procedure: she carries the food to the threshold once again, goes in to look around, and emerges. She can be made to repeat this cycle of behaviour upwards of forty times in succession. Intelligence–conspicuously absent in the case of Sphex–is the ability to adapt one's behaviour to fit new circumstances.
Mainstream thinking in psychology regards human intelligence not as a single ability or cognitive process but rather as an array of separate components. Research in AI has focussed chiefly on the following components of intelligence: learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and language-understanding.
Learning
Learning is distinguished into a number of different forms. The simplest is learning by trial-and-error. For example, a simple program for solving mate-in-one chess problems might try out moves at random until one is found that achieves mate. The program remembers the successful move and next time the computer is given the same problem it is able to produce the answer immediately. The simple memorising of individual items–solutions to problems, words of vocabulary, etc.–is known as rote learning.
Rote learning is relatively easy to implement on a computer. More challenging is the problem of implementing what is called generalisation. Learning that involves generalisation leaves the learner able to perform better in situations not previously encountered. A program that learns past tenses of regular English verbs by rote will not be able to produce the past tense of e.g. "jump" until presented at least once with "jumped", whereas a program that is able to generalise from examples can learn the "add-ed" rule, and so form the past tense of "jump" in the absence of any previous encounter with this verb. Sophisticated modern techniques enable programs to generalise complex rules from data.
Reasoning
To reason is to draw inferences appropriate to the situation in hand. Inferences are classified as either deductive or inductive. An example of the former is "Fred is either in the museum or the cafŽ; he isn't in the cafŽ; so he's in the museum", and of the latter "Previous accidents just like this one have been caused by instrument failure; so probably this one was caused by instrument failure". The difference between the two is that in the deductive case, the truth of the premisses guarantees the truth of the conclusion, whereas in the inductive case, the truth of the premiss lends support to the conclusion that the accident was caused by instrument failure, but nevertheless further investigation might reveal that, despite the truth of the premiss, the conclusion is in fact false.
There has been considerable success in programming computers to draw inferences, especially deductive inferences. However, a program cannot be said to reason simply in virtue of being able to draw inferences. Reasoning involves drawing inferences that are relevant to the task or situation in hand. One of the hardest problems confronting AI is that of giving computers the ability to distinguish the relevant from the irrelevant.
Problem-solving
Problems have the general form: given such-and-such data, find x. A huge variety of types of problem is addressed in AI. Some examples are: finding winning moves in board games; identifying people from their photographs; and planning series of movements that enable a robot to carry out a given task.
Problem-solving methods divide into special-purpose and general-purpose. A special-purpose method is tailor-made for a particular problem, and often exploits very specific features of the situation in which the problem is embedded. A general-purpose method is applicable to a wide range of different problems. One general-purpose technique used in AI is means-end analysis, which involves the step-by-step reduction of the difference between the current state and the goal state. The program selects actions from a list of means–which in the case of, say, a simple robot, might consist of pickup, putdown, moveforward, moveback, moveleft, and moveright–until the current state is transformed into the goal state.
Perception
In perception the environment is scanned by means of various sense-organs, real or artificial, and processes internal to the perceiver analyse the scene into objects and their features and relationships. Analysis is complicated by the fact that one and the same object may present many different appearances on different occasions, depending on the angle from which it is viewed, whether or not parts of it are projecting shadows, and so forth.
At present, artificial perception is sufficiently well advanced to enable a self-controlled car-like device to drive at moderate speeds on the open road, and a mobile robot to roam through a suite of busy offices searching for and clearing away empty soda cans. One of the earliest systems to integrate perception and action was FREDDY, a stationary robot with a moving TV 'eye' and a pincer 'hand' (constructed at
Language-understanding
A language is a system of signs having meaning by convention. Traffic signs, for example, form a mini-language, it being a matter of convention that, for example, the hazard-ahead sign means hazard ahead. This meaning-by-convention that is distinctive of language is very different from what is called natural meaning, exemplified in statements like 'Those clouds mean rain' and 'The fall in pressure means the valve is malfunctioning'.
An important characteristic of full-fledged human languages, such as English, which distinguishes them from, e.g. bird calls and systems of traffic signs, is their productivity. A productive language is one that is rich enough to enable an unlimited number of different sentences to be formulated within it.
It is relatively easy to write computer programs that are able, in severely restricted contexts, to respond in English, seemingly fluently, to questions and statements, for example the Parry and Shrdlu programs described in the section Early AI Programs. However, neither Parry nor Shrdlu actually understands language. An appropriately programmed computer can use language without understanding it, in principle even to the point where the computer's linguistic behaviour is indistinguishable from that of a native human speaker of the language (see the section Is Strong AI Possible?). What, then, is involved in genuine understanding, if a computer that uses language indistinguishably from a native human speaker does not necessarily understand? There is no universally agreed answer to this difficult question. According to one theory, whether or not one understands depends not only upon one's behaviour but also upon one's history: in order to be said to understand one must have learned the language and have been trained to take one's place in the linguistic community by means of interaction with other language-users.
Question 4.How has ERP facilitated supply chain functions?
Supply chain is an important process that includes the controlling and deciding the direction of resource movement in an organization.
It also includes all other sub process involved in coordinating them. The concept of supply chain and its management is not a new one. It has been in existence from yester years. However ERP has helped to reduce their inaccuracies and increased the performance of "the chain /plan of action". It is important to know about ERP and supply chain management.
Some of the issues concerning ERP for supply chain management are as follows:
Manages change
By and large the whole process of ERP is known for the umpteen numbers of changes in all areas right from organizational structure to the rules and regulations. In this context the headache of managing changes is an important issue for the senior management. Infact the senior management themselves have to be convinced either by In-house IT personnel or Vendors/consultants. The task of creating awareness about the change is not an easy one. Everybody is bound to react in a negative manner.
Irrespective of the consequences and aftermath action managements have to go for ERP if they strongly feel so and if the market demands the same. Otherwise negative changes will be reflected in the balance sheet in the form of increase in expenditures and reduction in profits! No organization will tolerate them if it is beyond a negligible quantum .Organizations will be prepared to lose on this small scale only if there are unavoidable reasons.
Now the real difficulty lies in the hands of the organization. How do they measure or map change? What are the ways to implement the required measures? How can one find the rate and pace at which the organization is getting accosted to the mammoth change namely ERP? Supply chain management is the one phrase answer to all these three questions. Supply chain is the tool which indicates how things go about in the organization. This has increased the prospects of erp supply chain software market.
ERP and supply chain management helps in coordination of resources. The organization should manage the supply chain process. This remains true in any situation. ERP acts as a tool that helps the companies to execute the things in required for managing the supply chain in a proper manner.
Any enterprise application be it MRP or MRP II or ERP is helpful for the organization in planning and scheduling the required commodities. Since the function of supply chain lies in calculating all these ERP can add value and meaning to this process by way of rendering technical expertise not only in managing resources but also in handling crisis.
Identify mistakes
Errors are a part of human life. No organization however big and successful can curb them once for all. The difference lies in identifying and rectifying them. Organizations which don't identify them will find that they will never fulfill their objectives even if means managing their supply chain flawlessly. The simple reason is that their supply chain is itself not devoid of any errors and hence the results will only be negative even because it is nothing better than rightly managing a wrong process. There was no solution to this till erp and supply chain management came together.
However all organizations don't find an opportunity to periodically asses their mistakes and make correct things. This may be due to circumstances or various reasons that are beyond the scope of repair. However when ERP is implemented in an organization the first and foremost step is to identify the existing errors and make changes. The knowledge of ERP helps the supply chain process to do that very effectively and efficiently. The reason is that everything in the organization will be tuned and restructured to become ERP friendly. This naturally means redefining the supply chain and its constituents. This will be done to suit ERP which equals to adapting to a new process and rectifying the old mistakes. However there are still shortcomings of ERP in manufacturing supply chain market.
Set metrics
The organizations will be able to visualize and introduce some parameters. These parameters will become effective means for measuring ERP, its impact and the level of change, if it is compatible or in tune with the quantity desired and so on. Unless ERP is implemented in an organization it becomes difficult to set these parameters because there is no basis for measurement.Unl4ess supply chain functions properly in the organization there is a tool for making the above said measurements. There for ERP and Supply chain management mutually helps each other in this regard and also helps in scaling accountability for one another. This can be easily done if one identifies the supply chain segments supported by ERP.
Assistance and results
ERP helps these organizations to deliver the necessary results. It also helps in the functioning of the supply chain process. The supply chain process will continue uninterrupted whether or not ERP exists in the organization. ERP helps to increase the results, productivity and helps to ease the supply chain process.
Conclusion
ERP and supply chain management have greatly helped the manufacturing sector. The shortcomings of ERP in manufacturing supply chain have to be rectified in order to make it more effective. ERP supply chain software market is encouraging provided one identifies the supply chain segments that erp supports in the process of erp and supply chain management.
Question 5.
Definitions: Risk = Threat X Vulnerability
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Encryption continues to be the topic on every CIO and IT person’s lips nowadays. No one wants to end up in the news as the next victim of a privacy breach or the next company that didn’t protect its customers’ information. If you conduct a news search using the words “personal data breach,” you’ll be alarmed at the number of instances where personal information such as social security and credit-card numbers have been exposed to possible theft. In a recent breach, a state government site allowed access to hundreds of thousands of records, including names, addresses, social security numbers and documents with signatures.
Whether it’s government agencies, research facilities, banking institutions, credit card processing companies, hospitals–or your company’s computers – the risk of compromising private information is very high. At the recent “CEO-CIO Symposium,” speaker Erik Phelps from the law firm Michael Best & Friedrich described the relationship business has with technology. In his presentation, he stated that since “business relies so heavily on technology today, business risk becomes technology dependent.” The possibility of litigation is part of business. It has always been a risk of doing business, but because technology and today’s business are so intertwined, business risk has a higher threat level. This has prompted many to encrypt workstations and mobile computers in order to protect critical business data.
If you have rolled out encryption, how do you maintain your IT service quality when the hard disk drive fails? How do you plan and prepare for a data loss when the user’s computer is encrypted? These are all issues that should be considered when putting together a data disaster plan. In addition, data recovery, one of the more common missing elements of a disaster recovery plan, should also be factored in because it can serve as the “Hail Mary” attempt when all other options have been exhausted.
Data Recovery and Encryption
Business continuity and disaster planning are critical for businesses regardless of their size. Most archive and backup software have key features to restore user files, database stores and point in time snap-shots of users’ files. Software is becoming more automated so users don’t have to manually backup their files. Some computer manufacturers have built-in backup systems that include dedicated hard disk drives for archive storage. Most external USB hard disk drives have some sort of third party software that provides data archiving during a trial time period. Such solutions, while solving the data backup need, create questions regarding how effective the systems are with respect to user data. What are your options when a user’s computer has a data disaster and the hard disk drive is fully encrypted?
Most IT security policies require a multi-pronged approach to data security. For example, when setting up a new computer for a user, the IT department will require a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) password for the system before the computer will start. BIOS password security varies in functionality. Some are computer system specific, meaning that the computer will not start without the proper password. Other BIOS passwords are hard disk drive specific, meaning that the hard drive will not be accessible without the proper password. Some computer BIOS employ one password for access control to the system and the hard disk drive. To add a second level of protection, new IT security policies require full hard disk drive encryption. The most common of full hard disk encryption software operates as a memory resident program. When the computer starts up, the encryption software is loaded before the operating system starts and a pass-phrase or password prompt is required. After a successful login from the user, the software decrypts the hard disk drive sectors in memory, as they are needed. The process is reversed when writing to the hard disk drive. This leaves the hard disk drive in a constant state of encryption. The operating system and program applications function normally, without having to be aware of any encryption software.
Question 6.
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Question 7.1). Customer relationship management is a broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a company’s interactions with clients and sales prospects. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes—principally sales activities, but also those for marketing, customer service, and technical support. The overall goals are to find, attract, and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing and client service. [1] Once simply a label for a category of software tools, today, it generally denotes a company-wide business strategy embracing all client-facing departments and even beyond. When an implementation is effective, people, processes, and technology work in synergy to increase profitability, and reduce operational costs.[2]
2)Online analytical processing, or OLAP (pronounced /?o-lap/), is an approach to quickly answer multi-dimensional analytical queries.[1] OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational reporting and data mining.[2] The typical applications of OLAP are in business reporting for sales, marketing, management reporting, business process management (BPM)[3], budgeting and forecasting, financial reporting and similar areas. The term OLAP was created as a slight modification of the traditional database term OLTP (Online Transaction Processing).[4]
Databases configured for OLAP use a multidimensional data model, allowing for complex analytical and ad-hoc queries with a rapid execution time. They borrow aspects of navigational databases and hierarchical databases that are faster than relational databases.[5]
The output of an OLAP query is typically displayed in a matrix (or pivot) format. The dimensions form the rows and columns of the matrix; the measures form the values.
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