Business Process Re-engineering has rapidly developed towards a new management philosophy.

The
inherent business process orientation changes the perspective of international management from a
structural to that of a process view. The re-engineering of business processes is only one aspect of the
management of business processes. In particular, the re-engineering of international business processes
needs special attention, because the multi-faceted structure of multinational corporations increases the
complexity of business processes, there by influencing the options for redesign. Business Process Reengineering has rapidly developed towards a new management philosophy based upon predecessors like
Total Quality Management, Overhead Value Analysis, Kanban or Just-In-Time-Management. Business
processes can be re-engineered by redesigning the steps, by changing the logical and temporal sequence
of the steps, or by changing any other characteristics of the process. The role of IT is discussed in
contradictory way. Advocates of information systems favor the view that the new technology is an enabler
of process re-engineering. IT has to be monitored constantly to determine whether it can generate new
process designs or contribute to the performance of a business process. The breakthrough of BPR is
closely connected with IT, which opens new dimensions of process reorganization. Moreover, those who
take the initiative in process improvement/redesign, influence the role of IT. If the data processing
department initiates the process change, then IT will have more of a generator function for new process
redesigns. If on the other hand, the top management sets off the change process, then the process will be
first restructured and later optimized through IT.

When an information system is being developed, much importance should be given

to the structure of the organization, culture of the organization, etc. But along with
these, especial attention should also be given to the technical side of MIS. The
various contemporary approaches to MIS development can be summarized as
1.The
a)

Based

b)

Physical

Technical
on

the

technology

mathematical
forms

the

Approach
and

back

the

bone

normative

of

such

an

models.
approach.

c) Such an approach mainly finds much needed contributions from the disciplines
like

computer

science,

2.

management

The

science,

operations

research

Behavioral

etc.

Approach

a) Based on the impact of the behavior and also on the response of the people in
the

organization.

b) Motivational Feasibility forms a very important and demanding part of such an

approach towards MIS development.
3.

The

Socio

Technical

Approach

a) In the beginning, this approach was finding it hard to survive but now it is
being accepted worldwide and is also being implemented at a very large scale.
b) Involves key involvement of both of the above explained approaches.
c) Improves the performance of the information system as a whole.
Porter

Millar

postulates

Porter and Millar were the ones, who explained the affect of the information
technology on the competition. According to them information technology is
affecting

competition

in

the

following

ways:

a) Causes changes in the structure of the industry and as a result of this, rule of
competitions

are

altered.

b) Spawning of the whole new business takes place, and in much of the cases it

is

caused

from

within

the

companys

existing

operations.

c) Competitive advantage is created usually because of the new ways; the

companies get to outperform their rivals.

(a). Technical Approach

The technical approach emphasises scientific modelling of businesses, technology and
capabilities of systems. Management science emphasises models of decision-making and
management. Combining this with an understanding of technical issues and computer
science, this provides the technical approach to modern management.

Business modelling,
Computer science,
Operations research

(b). Behavioural Approach

The behavioural approach looks at the psychological, sociological and economic aspects of
the system. This approach deals with issues of:
Design,
Implementation,
Business integration,
Management.
The sociological approach looks at these aspects from the point of view of how groups work
together and the nature of organisations.
The psychological approach looks at how people perceive and use information systems, especially
with respect to decision making.
The economic approach looks at how IT systems affect control structures and costs both within a
company and in markets.

.
What are the benefits & limitations of the relational database model for business application today?
Why is the object-orienteddatabase model gaining acceptance for developing application and
managing the hypermedia database at the business website?
A.
Relational Database Model is based on tables and for management purposes. This model was
invented by Edgar F. Codd in 1969.Edgar at that time was working at IBM. In the relational model of a
database, all data is represented in terms of tuples & grouped into relations. A database organized
in terms of the relational model is a relational database.