Saturday, 12 March 2016



My Presentation link:

file:///C:/Users/user/Desktop/MIS/My%20Presentation_Groupon.htm


Honam Petrochemical’s Quest for better Management Reports

List and describe the information requirements of HPC’s new management system. What problems was the new system designed to solve?

Honam needed reliable reports that could accurately measure management performance and provide useful, accurate information for increasing sales and reducing costs. Executive decision-makers wanted up-to-the minute reports that they could view quickly on their desktops. They wanted access via the Web or their mobile devices. They also wanted access to enterprise-wide data that could be shared easily across various business units and functions to support the company’s expansion geographically and by product line.
The problem’s Honam wanted to solve included outdated reports. Then individual managers were processing and manipulating data to make their departments look better to senior management. The report data were also outdated and only presented periodically. Executives also did not want to be overloaded with unnecessary data.

To what extent were ‘people” problems affecting management decision making at HPC? What were some of the management, organization and technology that had to be addressed by the new system? How did the system’s designers make the system more “people-friendly”?
To what extent were ‘people” problems affecting management decision making at HPC?

Individual managers were processing and manipulating the data to make their departments look better to senior management. The report data were stale and presented only on periodic basic. Executives at the chemical firm wanted access to the data before they went through manipulation or processing. They didn’t want each department’s own interpretation report thus delay the report to management. The executives wanted anytime access to the most time data but they did not want to be overload with unnecessary data, so they could focus on the “watch-up indicators”.

What were some of the management, organization and technology that had to be addressed by the new system?

Issue that need to be addressed by the new system such as, up to date information can be shown during the meeting to ensure all discussions and decision making are based on the consistency and timely review of the data. An executives can access the data at any time to get a more accurate and timelier picture of how their organization is performing without any outside interpretation. Other than that, there is no longer do top level decision makers for example to send their staff members on data-hunting excursions. The staff should know data is available and how to get it to expedites their decision making process.

How did the system’s designers make the system more “people-friendly”?

The system’s designers need to make the system more “people-friendly” by develop several things such as, develop web access from multiple location, required training on how to use the system, develop well designed and user friendly screen and data entry forms, simple and easy to updates, easy to troubleshoot and efficient.

What role did end-users play in developing HPC’s new system? How did the project team make sure users were involved? What would have happened to the project if they had not done this?

End-users appear to have had quite a lot of input into designing the new reporting system. The information systems team asked executives to list existing reports they were already receiving and to assess the usefulness of each. Executives were asked if there any additional reports or data from which their organizational groups could benefit. The findings were very useful in determining the right set of reports and dashboards for Honam executives.
To encourage users to start working with the system, the information people visited various manufacturing plants where the system was being rolled out and had in-depth discussions with executives about the systems’ benefits as well as how to use it. It’s because the information systems team involved users at the beginning and asked for their input, executives were much more likely to adapt to and use the new information reporting system.

What other steps did HPC take to make sure the system was successful?

HPC used a phased approach in implementing the new system. HPC waited until the company was experience with ERP software and confident in its data quality and its data collection and processing methods. HPC CIO, Jong Pyo Kim also emphasized the important of benchmarking with other companies in the industry before designing and implementing an executive facing system. Most manufacturing want to access to similar data and performance indicators.

What types of system-building methods and tools did HPC use for building its system?

SAP Business objects Dashboard is a drag-and-drop visualization tool designed to create interactive analytics for powerful, personalized dashboards based on SAP’s business object business intelligence platform. Business object tools can be used for performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, enterprise information management and provide self-service access to data from database and excel spread-sheets.
SAP Business Objects Web Intelligence is an ad hoc query, reporting and analysis tools that is used to create queries or use existing reports, format retrieved information and perform analysis to understand trends and root causes.

What were the benefits of the new system> How did its change the way Honam ran its business? How successful was the system solution?

Timelier decisions – Reduces time needed to collect, process and track data for decision making. Other than that, delivers timely information and various analysis to end user.
Personalized delivery of information – provides options for Early Warning System of data alerts that allows differentiation and personalized delivery of information for executives, managers, and front-line employees.
Measurable watch-up indicators across all business areas – Ensure consistency of information and establishes structure for global sharing of information. Increase business competitiveness through increased use of global information system.
Improved accessibility – Display data management cockpits, or widgets and provides unstructured details and analysis also leverages visual graphics to improve readability.

The benefit was immediate such as Executives no longer are limited to sanitized, stale data in outdated presentation format. Management also can made a discussion and decisions based on timely consistent and accurate company wide data.

Friday, 26 February 2016

Austin’s Energy’s Billing System Can’t Light Up

Is the Austin Energy project a failure? Explain your answer.

Yes, the Austin Business Project is failure because:
Modernization billing project delays - Austin and IBM project late completion, delay schedule, software bugs. Complexity new billing system with 73 different interface
Software bugs - Error of thousands of bills, 65000 never received bills35000 in accurate bills, overcharging
Instability issues - Seriously impact business and customer, Persistent system error from billing department and Revenue loses
Customer services employee - Employee response one to one assistant for account accessing and correcting error.
Customer - Unable to access system online portal and System causes a lot of problem, not friendly and hard time for customer.
IBM failure - Billing software system failure

Describe the business impact of the faltering Austin Energy project.

Operation are mostly affected is billing department.Difficulties of issuing bills because of billing software failure, Common error of customer not received bills, customer receive in accurate bills, account automatically cancelled, Incurred more cots in utilities and operation. Since business function is interconnected, one function failure give impact of another function such as production, Business service is inaccurate, it give impact in revenue and profit even though they don’t have pressure of competitor.
Customer servicedepartment mostly affected.Employee work in high level of stress, Extra effort need to solve customer problem. They still need to serve customer better even though customer angry to show their disappointment towards the company, Employee also treated in the same way as usual, do not receive any appreciation from the company and Give impact of public relationship disaster.
Sales and marketing such as company also faced difficulties in determining the actual sales since the system leads more error, Sales and profit decreasing, Company might face law suit for this issues. If it is happening, more cost to handle legal costs. It is bad for company since give negative impact in their legacy and Company also incurred more cost in advertising to give explanation to the public about what happen.
Finance and accounting such as Inaccurate financial report since the actual value of revenue and profit inaccurate recorded, give impact of financial planning and investment and the project is delayed, suppose fully operational in early 2011 but it still not fully operational and incurred more cost.
Management will do a wrong decision making of having IBM to develop the software as the bad experience IBM performance in inventory management, the service given by IBM is bad and disappointment and need to train all employees with new technology.
Customer will mostly affected. Whereby System also not user friendly, Austin portal also always have problem, customer can’t access account information and company also doesn't think of their preference such as ability to choose time of the month that customer prefers to pay bills.

To what degree was IBM responsible for the problems countered by the Austin Energy billing project? Was Austin Energy at fault for the problems? Explain your answer.

IBM not really responsive to the problems and it made Austin Energy appealed so many times to IBM officials ranging from the managers of billing system project up to IBM CEO. IBM responsible in find the roof of problem, make system correction, test the latest system version and implement the system.
Yes, Austin Energy is at fault for the problem. It is because Austin Energy as a user had to be committed to the system. Probably, Austin Energy did not plan very properly in the project to develop the billing system. They must have clear and proper project management objective which should deal with five major variables: scope, time, cost, quality and risk. The agreement should clearly define the roles and responsibilities of both party.

What were the specific organizational or technical factors as well as management factors involved in this projects failure?

Organizational:Employee could not be committed enough and described as if they are alpha tester when they encountered bugs and issues that never have made it to a live version, unable to meet customer satisfaction, no realignment internally and externally, caused vastly on costs that exceed budgets, fail to meet customer expectation and lost trust draws customer away.
Technical:No specific infrastructure, unreliable system caused money loss, did not work closely with third party vendors like oracle, customers unable to access the system’s online portal.
Management:No strategy which cause time slippage, no business solutions, interrelated with manpower, repeating mistakes and delays and improper project management objective.

Describe the steps Austin Energy and IBM should have taken be better manage this project.

Austin Energy and IBM need to develop an information system plan which indicates:
Austin Energy and IBM need to develop an information system plan which indicates  such as the direction of system development, the rational, the current system/situation, new development to consider, the management strategy, the implementation plan and Budget requirement






What does IT take to go Mobile

What management, organization and technology issues need to be addressed when building mobile application.

The introduction of a new information system involves much more than new hardware and software. A mobile strategy involves much than selecting mobile devices, operating system and applications. It also includes changes in business process, changing the way people work, skills, and the way a firm interacts with its customers. System builders must understand how a system will affect specific business processes and the organization as a whole.
I.                    Management Issues: Before firms go to mobile, Company should identify several issues toward management such as: System Solution Selection, Project Monitoring and Rationalization of the applications. Management also need defined clearly the benefit to company and customer against the developing any mobile application.
II.                  Organizational Issue: Before firms go to mobile, Company should identify several issues toward organizational such as: Global Processes Redesigning, Jobs redesigning, Employee Training and Change of corporate culture.
III.                Technology Issues: Before firms go to mobile, Company should identify several issues toward Technology such as: Deploy E-Business Software, Rich and rewards of far reaching changes of mobile features and applications, Automation from Technology – enable change and System Development Process.


How does user requirement definition for mobile applications differ from that in traditional systems analysis?

Requirement analysis also called requirements engineering which is the process of determining user expectations for a new or modified product.  These features, called requirements must be quantifiable, relevant and detailed. In software engineering such requirements are often called functional specifications. Requirements analysis is an important aspect of project management. Requirement analysis involves frequent communications with system users to determine specific features expectations, resolution of conflict or ambiguity in requirements as demanded by the various users or groups of users, avoidance of feature creep and documentation of all aspects of the project from start to finish.
Traditional requirements are usually thought of as capabilities and constraints of the system. Many traditional requirements do provide context for business and users but usually not the main focus of the requirement rather than focus of system. Requirements be the sources of record for the system’s operation.


Describe the business processes changed by USAA’s mobile applications before and after the application were deployed.

USAA launched its Web in 1997 and went mobile 10 years later, with about 90% of its interactions with customers taking place on these two self-service channels. In 2001, USAA handle 183 million customer contacts through mobile channel alone, and expect the mobile channel will its primary point of contact with customers in next two years. In 2011 also, USAA Federal Savings bank processed $6.4 billion in deposits through this mobile applications. The mobile applications also displays loan 7 credit card balance, shopping services, homeowners & auto insurance policy information, Home Information, ATM & Taxi locators and a communities features that lets users see what others are posting about USAA on Twitter, Facebook and You Tube. USAA has 100 dedicated mobile developer writing apps for device using iPhone, iPad and Android systems, along with apps Blackberry and Windows Phone 7. USAA develop a smartphone accident report & claims applications that enables customers to snap a photo & submit a claim directly from the site of an accident.









Knowledge Management and Collaboration at Tata Consulting Services

Analyze the knowledge management efforts at TCS using the knowledge value chain model. Which tools or activities were used for managing tacit knowledge and which ones are used for explicit knowledge?

The knowledge management efforts at TCS can be divided as below:
a)      Acknowledge Acquisition
-          Over the years, TCS had acquired a vast body of knowledge and experience in several fields through on-shore and off-shore projects for its client across the globe including GE Insurance, GE Health, Hewlett Packard, Prudential, Standard Chartered Bank and so on.
-          TCS regularly rotated people across various functions and within other Tata Group companies to gain cross-industry experience.
-          Employees were also encouraged to be part of outside bodies like IEEE and go in for certificates.

b)      Knowledge Storage
-          TCS had developed various repositories and databases for knowledge storage such as Kbases, Process Asset Libraries, KnowMax and Ultimatix.

c)       Knowledge Dissemination
-          Knowledge was disseminated using a variety of techniques such as:
·         Ultimatix : A web based electronic knowledge management portal
·         Propel session : Brought together employees with similar interests
·         Live Meeting and Knowledge Transition sessions at the project level
·         “Tip of the Day” email comprising technical, conceptual or human skills tips were share within the organization daily

d)      Knowledge Application
-          Employees could access the knowledge repository that raised on the corporate and branch servers through the intranet.
-          Students or anybody should visit the TCS website to explore the new capabilities developed by TCS and how it relates to the knowledge they have accumulated over the years about the customers, markets, systems development and technologies.
Tools or activities were used for managing tacit knowledge:
-          Kbases
-          Process Asset Libraries
-          KnowMax
-          Ultimax
Tools or activities were used for managing explicit knowledge:
-          Redesign of development centers
-          Propel sessions
-          Knowledge Transition Sessions
-          Communities of practice

Describe the growth of knowledge management systems at TCS. How have these systems helped TCS in its business?

The concept of knowledge management (KM) was introduced in TCS in 1995 and a dedicated KM team called ‘Corporate Groupware’ was formed in 1998. This group launched the KM-pilot in mid-1999. At that time, KM in TCS covered nearly every function, from quality assurance to HR management. The employees could access the knowledge repository that resided on the corporate and branch servers through the intranet, with a browser front-end or a Notes client. The knowledge repository also called Kbases, contained a wide range of information about processes line of business of technology and projects.
The next step was to create Process Asset Libraries (PALs) which contained information related to technology, processes, and case studies for project leaders which were made available to all development centers through the intranet.
The same was done through the web-based electronic knowledge management portal called Ultimax, which PAL was the precursor. The PAL library and Kbases, which were hosted on the intranet, merged with Ultimax, which had sub-portals for quality management system, software productivity improvement, training materials and tools information.
TCS developed Knowmax, a knowledge management system using Microsoft share point portal server that gave TCS consultants access to nearly 40 years of experience and best practices arranged by type of engagement, the technology in use and customer requirements. It supported more than 60 knowledge assets and was accessible via Ultimax to all TCS associates. Any associate could contribute to the K-Bank and Knowledge officers were made responsible for maintaining the quality of content.

Describe the collaboration tools used at TCS? What benefits did TCS reap from these tools?

Collaboration tools used by TCS:
-          Infinity that includes instant messaging, IP telephony and video conferencing
-          Blogs and wikis
-          IdeaStorm, TIP
-          Mysite
Benefits that TCS reap from these tools:
i)                    Collaboration overseas and local offices improved as instant messaging got rid of cultural and pronunciation differences that could occur on the phone.
ii)                   Corporate communications are able to run a 24-hour internal news broadcast to all TCS offices in the world.
iii)                 Travel and telecommunications costs were reduced by 40% and 6% respectively.
iv)                 The other tools improved collaboration, communication and knowledge sharing among the employees.

How did Web 2.0 tools help TCS to manage knowledge and collaboration among its employees?

Web 2.0 tools help TCS to manage knowledge and collaboration among its employees as below:
a)      Wikis
-          Collaborating on materials related to project.
-          Supporting brainstorming sessions
-          Developing presentations

b)      Blogs
-          Used as to gather inputs on problems that they faced on a project.

c)       Just Ask System
-          Allowed employees to post a question and get answers from colleagues, sometimes leading to a detailed discussion.
-          If someone often answered questions on a particular domain, the relevant specialist group invites that person into the domain group and gave the visibility to talent within the company.

d)      The Ideastorm
-          Used by management, helped in generation of ideas on topics posted by corporate team.

e)      TIP
-          Used as a portal for product innovation and new ideas.
-          Helped the management to garner ideas related to product or service innovation and helped in solving problems.

f)       Social Net Working Mysite
-          To help employees communicate better with each other.

How do you think KM tools have changed some key operational processes at TCS, such as bidding for new projects, project development and implementation, customer service and so on?

System development and implementation activities are more likely to be done by TCS in manner that is timely, effective and cost efficient. The same for customer service, by knowing customer requirements and also taking ideas from other industries that are stored in the KM databases, the company can provide new and innovative solutions to resolve customer queries. TCS aims to move up the value chain and to continue to bid for higher level projects, beyond those of maintenance and development. By accumulating knowledge, it has built capabilities to understand how to service clients through consulting and in other strategic areas. So KM has enabled TCS to continue to move higher-up and to bid for more strategic projects. KM repositories that capture best practices in the projects it has undertaken make the company more efficient in servicing clients. This means it can execute better. Overall, KM tools have become a key strategic resource at the company and all hires are required to learn them as a part of their orientation. These tools are also the first go-to before starting and project or approaching a client. Knowledge in these databases allows TCS consultants to quickly gather intelligent about the client or similar projects and thus align themselves better with what the client might want. This has led to higher success rate in bidding and in project execution.



Designing Drug Virtually

Why are computers so important in drug discovery?
i)                    Previously traditional methods of drug discovery rely on trial and error testing of chemical substances on cultured cells or animals and matching the apparent effects to treatments.
ii)                   The traditional drug discovery process are painstaking and complicated. It’s take a lot of time and a lot of process and too much trial and error.
iii)                 Drug development companies tried to speed up the process by creating huge libraries of potential compounds and sing robots to quickly review hundreds of thousands of sample to see if any worked.
iv)                 The researchers had no idea and not understand the ‘key’ of the ‘lock’.
v)                  Scientists were used the powerful computers to analyze thousands of interference patterns.
vi)                 Researchers must find a custom molecule to fit that particular ‘lock’.
vii)               The molecule must be able to bind to target, be synthesized and manufactured in large quantities and be metabolized by body at just the right rate.
Subsequently, researchers must find a custom molecule to fit that particular ‘lock’. This is because the molecule must be able to:
-          Bind the target
-          Be synthesized and manufacture in large quantities
-          Be metabolized by the body at just the right rate
These are the reasons computers are so important in the drug discovery process. Eventually, the high-powered computers help evaluate the structures and properties of molecules that are most likely to bind to that target and rapidly search database libraries of chemical structures in order to identify the most promising candidates.

What roles are played by computers in the drug discovery process?

Roles played by computers in the drug discovery process as below:
a)      In the field of medicine, drug discovery is the process by which new candidate medications are discovered.
b)      The objective of drug design is to find chemical compound that can fit to a specific cavity on a protein target both geometrically and chemically.
c)       It is generally recognized that drug discovery and development are very time and resources consuming processes.
d)      There is ever growing effort to apply computational power to combined chemical and biological space in order to streamline drug discovery, design. Development and optimization.
e)      In biomedical arena, computer-aided is being utilized to expedite and facilitate hit identification, hit-to-lead selection, optimize the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity profile and avoid safety issues.
f)       The result is determination of specific receptors (targets).
g)      In the modern era, computer-aided drug design (CADD) has considerably extended its range of applications, spanning almost all stages in the drug discovery pipeline from target identification to lead discovery, from lead optimization to preclinical or clinical trials.

h)      Drug researchers using structure-based design benefit from a new process of visualizing and modeling promising compounds at the molecular level. 

What systems are described here? What valuable information do they provide?
The systems are described in this case study are:
·         Database Management System
The system is based on clustered Dell servers running Windows 2003 and connected to over 270 Windows XP clients. This system used as the backbone of Sybase Adaptive server, whereas clients use SQL anywhere. Every branch has the most recent version of the client list, trucks’ availability, and new shipping contracts so that any customer is able to deal with any branch at any time.
·         Shipping Information System
The system is to maintain all the sender information such as the sent car, the truck number, the sender and receiving branches, and it also sends an SMS message to the client acknowledging the arrival of the car. The system also records the client’s data, and holds maintenance information. Linking the data of vehicle maintenance centres with the transportation service helps to enhance company performance and achieve better customer service. The system also enable standard reports to be provided to top management and head sectors about the productivity of each branch, resulting in accurate identification of needs for different regions and thus proper budget allocation. In addition, the system allowed a better audit on all drivers’ behaviour by using the output of the vehicles’ tracking information.

What value did the IT/IS investments add to Albassami?

By investing in IT/IS, the values added are:
·         Enhance company performance.
·         Achieve better customer services.
·         Helps top management make faster decision and reduce error in decision making by using accurate data provided by the system.
·         Proper performance and monitoring resulted in adequate employees’ appraisals and consequently loyal staff.
·         Knowledge extracted from central database has enabled the management team to make sound investment and operational decision and therefore help the business maintain its success leadership in Kingdom.

How did implementing the Shipping Information System address the business needs and information requirements of Albassami?

Implementing the shipping information system address the business needs and information requirements of Albassami is the recipient branch will create a receipt entry on the system upon arrival of the truck and then and Short Messaging Service communication (SMS) is created and sent to the customer, who will then go to the destination branch to receive the car.
In addition, Albassami maintains all the sender information such as the sent car, the truck number, the sender and receiving branches, and it also sends an SMS to the client acknowledging the arrival of the car. The system also records the client’s data, and holds maintenance information. Linking the data of vehicle maintenance centres with the transportation service helps to enhance company performance and achieve better customer service.
The system also enables standard reports to be provided to top management and head sectors about the productivity of each branch, resulting in accurate identification of needs for different regions and thus proper budget allocation. In addition, the system allowed a better audit on all drivers’ behaviour by using the output of the vehicles tracking information. Proper performance monitoring resulted in adequate employee’s appraisals and consequently loyal staff.