AY11/12, Apr Sem

Temasek Polytechnic
School of Informatics & IT

Information Systems and Office Fundamentals

Tutorial wk 1: Information Systems Framework

Objectives:
1. Review important concepts from Lecture 1;
2. Help students in understanding and approaching questions;
3. Aid students in assessing their understanding of the related topic taught;
4. Cultivate answer framing and writing skill.

Students should prepare their draft answers before coming to class, as this will help them to
better participate in the discussions.

1. Define data and information in the context of a school and a manufacturing

company, giving relevant examples. (4 marks)

Data:  Raw  facts  such  as  number,  audio,  image,  audio  and  video  
 
School:  Student  name  Alice  Tan,  photo  of  Alice  Tan,  IS  and  Office  fundamentals,  FBI  
 
Manufacturing:  Eg.  24  Apr  2008,  500  Kg,  100Kg,  sugar,  flour  
 
Information:  A  collection  of  facts  organized  in  such  a  way  that  they  have  additional  
value  beyond  the  value  of  the  facts  themselves.  (have  meaning  in  a  context)    
 
School:  Alicie  Tan  is  a  student  of  diploma  of  Financial  Business  Informatics,  taking  
ISOFun  in  her  year  1  of  study  in  Temasek  Polytechnic.  
 
Manufacturing:  On  24  Apr  2008,  company  X  used  500Kg  of  flour  and  100Kg  of  sugar  
to  manufacture  1000  cakes  

2. What is the difference between an Management Information Systems (MIS) and a

Decision Support System (DSS)?
(4  marks)  
 A  MIS  is  an  organized  collection  of  people,  procedures,  software,  databases,  and                
devices  used  to  provide  routine  informaiton  to  managers  and  decision  makers.  
 
 A  DSS  is  an  organized  collection  of  people,  procedures,  software,  databases,  and  
devices  used  to  support  problem  specific  decision  making.  
 
 The  focus  of  a  DSS  is  on  decision  making  effectiveness  whereas  an  MIS  helps  an      
organization  “do  thngs  right”    

Tutorial – IS Framework Page: 1

AY11/12, Apr Sem

3. What are the most common types of computer-based information systems used in
business organizations today? Give an example of each.

A   trasaction   processing   system   (TPS)   and   a   management   information   systems(MIS)  

are   both   commen   types   of   computer-­‐based   systems   used   in   business   today.   Both  
are   organized   collections   of   people,   procedures,   databases   and   devices   used   to  
perform  computing  functions.  
 
The  TPS  is  spcifically  used  to  record  competed  business  transactions  and  store  this  
information   in   a   database.   E.g   Point-­‐Of-­‐Sales   at   checkout   counter   connected   to  
database  to  extract  cost  of  items  at  a  supermatket    
 
The  MIS  uses  the  information  collected  by  the  TPS  and  summarizes  it  into  routine  
reports   used   by   managers   and   ocassionaly   decision-­‐makers.   E.g   Student   exam  
system  to  generate  exam  results  and  the  end  of  exam  
 
A     DSS   is   an   organized   cocllection   of   people,   procedures,   databases   and   advices  
used  to  support  the  problem-­‐specific  decision  making  fuction  within  a  firm.  E.g.  Eam  
system   with   management   staff   in   deciding   students   to   progress   tonext   stage   of  
study,  obtain  diplomas  with  merit  etc.  
 
An   Expert   System   (ES)   is   a   form   a   aritificail   intelligence   used   to   capture   and   use   the  
wisdom   od   experts   and   specialists.   The   DSS   supports   the   decision   making   process  
while   the   ES   suggests   a   soloution   derived   form   its   knowledge   base.   E.g   IBM’s  
Deepblue  (a  robot  system)    which  can  play  chess.  
(8 marks)

4. You have decided to open an Internet site to buy and sell used music CDs to other
students. Describe the value chain (set  of  steps) for your new business. (8 marks)
 
Raw  Material         Used  CDs  from  students  
 
Inbound  Logistics       Prepaid  shipping  envelopes    
 
Warehouse  and  storage     Storage   room/contaomers   and   inventory  
system  
 
Process  control  system    Ability  to  provide  quotes  to  buyers  and  sellers                    
of  CDs  and  process  payments  
 
Customer  Service      Phone/email   support   and   odering,   tracking   of  
orders  
Marketing  and  sales     Marketing  plan  
 

Tutorial – IS Framework Page: 2

AY11/12, Apr Sem

Retrival  system     Ability   to   locate   CDs   in   inventory   sold   for  

outbound  shipping  
Outbound  logistics     Ability  to  sned/track  CDs  sold  
 

Tutorial – IS Framework Page: 3