Week Ten: Weekly Questions

1. Explain the triple constraint and its importance in project management

The triple constraint involves the process of managing the scope, time and cost of a project. These characteristics are ‘constrained’ in a sense as changes to such inputs are inevitable. It is essential to effectively plan such three constraints as “failing to plan is planning to fail”. This is evident as between 30% and 70% of IT projects fail due to late delivery, exceeding budget or not delivering what was agreed upon. The triple constraint is used as a tool to understand whether a project’s objectives are being met and can be represented in a dempster triangle shown below. (http://brianherman.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/triple-constraint.png)

2. Describe the two primary diagrams most frequently used in project planning

In project planning, gantt and pert charts are commonly used.

3. Identify the three primary areas a project manager must focus on managing to ensure success

To ensure success is achieved, a manager must effectively be able to manage people, ensure effective communication is performed in groups and change is managed effectively.

Managing People - http://www.truesolutions.com/images/People1.jpg

4. Outline 2 reasons why projects fail and 2 reasons why projects succeed

There are various attributes allowing projects to both fail and succeed. Many businesses IT projects fail because firms create unrealistic expectations. For example, a business may wish to perform a project with 10% of the funding which is required. Another reason in which projects fail is because of poor scope. This means that firms may set unrealistic time frames for a project to be completed. However, projects commonly succeed if the project is headed by a good leader and is performed using a good mix of team players who can share their expertise. Additionally, projects succeed in many cases due to good communication which is inevitable in any team work.

Business teamwork: http://www.asisourcing.com/uploads/bigstockphoto_business_teamwork_-_puzzle_pie_1017860.jpg

Week Nine: Weekly Questions

What is your understanding of Customer Relationship Management (CRM?)

CRM refers to the business process of managing all of the aspects surrounding a customer’s relationship with a firm. This is done to ensure an organization maintains a strong relationship with already existent customers and implements ways to attract new customers. Customer relationship management is crucial to increase customer loyalty, retention (as it is six times more costly to loose a customer than to find a new one) and ultimately increase a firm’s profitability. Individualisation is a key motivator within the field of CRM.

Description of CRM (http://www.marketingteacher.com/IMAGES/crm_model.gif)

Compare operational and analytical CRM

Operational CRM supports traditional transactional processing for the day to day front-office operations or systems that deal directly with the customers. Operational CRM deals with the organization and simplifying of customer information. However, analytical CRM supports the back-office operations & strategic analysis & includes all systems that don’t directly deal with customers. Analytical CRM implements the use of data-mining to track operational data to identify trends allowing a firm to better serve its customers. The key difference between these two methods of CRM is the interaction between the organization and its customers.

Describe and differentiate the CRM technologies used by marketing departments and sales departments

The two key business functions which utilise CRM technologies are the marketing and sales departments. A typical marketing department of a firm would use the following tools to gain and manage customer information.

1. List generator: Compiles customer information from an array of sources for various uses
2. Campaign management: the process in which campaigns are planned, produced, distributed and reported
3. Cross-selling: selling an additional product or service to an existing customer (Oxford Dictionary)

Up-selling: Up selling (sometimes 'up-selling') is a sales technique whereby a salesperson induces the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up-selling)

The sales department uses slightly different CRM technologies allowing customer service employees to be informed on information regarding regular customers. The following sales CRM technologies are implemented by an array of firms.

1. Sales management: Sales management is attainment of an organization's sales goals in an effective & efficient manner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sales_management)
2. Contact management: Allows organizations and individuals to record relationships and interactions with customers and suppliers. This information includes all emails, documents, jobs, faxes, calendar and more (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_management)
3. Opportunity management: Analysing all external opportunities available for a firm to tackle in the customer service field e.g. ability to attract or induce new customers through effective customer service
   
   
   List Generator (http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/softimage/g/grocery_list_generator-75007-3.jpeg)
   
   
   

How could a sales department use operational CRM technologies?

A sales department could use the aforementioned operational CRM technologies to induce new customers, ultimately enabling them to maximise sales, thus profitability and customer-retention.

Describe business intelligence and its value to businesses

Business intelligence is defined as the implementation of applications and technologies to gather provide access to and analyse data and information to enable management to more easily solve decisions. Business intelligence is commonly relied upon by businesses to determine the value of a firms customers, identifying exceptional employees (e.g. through sales history), determining the success of marketing campaigns and determining whether certain business activities are profitable.

Business Intelligence (http://www.theaccidentalsuccessfulcio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/business-intelligence-graph.gif)

Explain the problem associated with business intelligence. Describe the solution to this problem.

A common problem attributed to business intelligence is the notion of ‘data rich, information poor’. This simply means that business intelligence can gather a lot of data but may become overwhelming for a business to handle, and thus can be information poor. This means that as there is an overload of data, it cannot all be analysed and translated into meaningful information. This prevents firms from benefits from such data when making analytical and strategic decisions. Additionally, all of this information may not be accessible to the departments that require it for example the marketing or finance department as it may be left in the hands of IT. A solution to this ‘data rich, information poor’ problem could be the shortening of the ‘latencies’ which is the time frame for the data to be ready for analysis. (I.e. the time of extracting, transforming and cleansing the data and loading it onto the database).

Example of Data Rich, Information Poor (http://gothamschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/06hargreaves.jpg)

What are two possible outcomes a company could get from using data mining?

There are various outcomes a business could get from using data mining. Such outcomes include a cluster analysis, association detection and statistical analysis.

Cluster analysis: finding similar data in various databases and grouping such information together e.g. trends in male/female purchases. This is done by dividing information into mutually exclusive groups to identify Behavioural traits.

Association detection: impact of change on one value i.e. x on another value i.e. y. reveals the degree to which variables are related and analyses the nature of such relationships. E.g. market basket analysis analyses websites to identify statistics of buying behaviour and forecasts future behaviour

Statistical analysis: use of regression analysis and statistics to analyse trends in data. Performs such functions through distributions and calculations. E.g. percentage of sales per store, forecasting (making predictions based on present information) and time series information (time stamped information collected at a particular frequency).

Youtube presentation on statistical data mining: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRsMEl6PHhM

Week Eight: Weekly Questions

Define the term operations management

Operations management refers to the management of systems, procedures or processes that are used to convert or transform resources into final goods and services. This notion is also attributed to ensuring business processes are efficient, in that they use as little resources as possible and are also effective; by ensuring customer requirements are met.

Youtube video thoroughly explaining operations management: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJG0G1K2tnU

Explain operations management’s role in business

Operations management plays a crucial role in business. Operations management consists of a scope ranging across firms and includes interrelated activities e.g. forecasting, scheduling, assuring quality, motivating employees. Operations management also plays a significant role in business as it ensures the business forecasts, conducts capacity planning (estimating number of g/s that can be produced), appropriately creates schedules, manages inventory, assures quality, motivates and trains employees and locates facilities.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/Bb497004.uamv5c2_01_big(en-us,TechNet.10).gif

Describe the correlation between operations management and information technology

IT plays a significant role in operations management. This can be displayed as management employs the use of IT to make operations management decisions regarding various issues related to productivity, costs, flexibility, quality and customer satisfaction. IT is used when making operation management decisions as most OM decisions involve many alternatives, thus OM information systems are essential for mgrs to make well informed decisions. Decision support systems and executive information systems driven by IT can also be used to help management perform a what-if analysis, sensitivity analysis, drill-down and consolidation. IT has a strong correlation with operations management in that it enables operation managers attain visibility across the firms processes and analyse the following:

- what resources will be needed

- when resources will be needed (use of JIT mechanism and reports [error rates])

- where the processes will be performed e.g. political, social, cultural, economical influences

- how well the firm structure their resource

and

- who will perform the work

Q: How does IT assist with OM and SCM?

IT acts as a bridge for effective operations management:

http://bookfiesta4u.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Operations-management.jpg

Explain supply chain management and its role in business

Supply chain management involves the management of information flows between stages in a firms supply chain. This is performed to maximise total supply chain effectiveness and profitability. Supply Chain Management monitors the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption. (Harland, C.M. (1996) Supply Chain Management, Purchasing and Supply Management, Logistics, Vertical Integration, Materials Management and Supply Chain Dynamics. UK: Blackwell.) Supply chain management plays a crucial role in business as it enables firms to clearly see how much each input is contributing to the final value of the good or service being produced. Through this evaluative stage, a business may be able to alter their supply chain to maximise profitability and customer satisfaction through improved products. There are various tiers of a supply chain which include goods and services, information and financial flows.

http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/39816/ESD-260JFall2003/NR/rdonlyres/Engineering-Systems-Division/ESD-260JFall2003/C63EDF2B-1583-46F8-A430-5A2330821E3A/0/chp_supchain.jpg

List and describe the five components of a typical supply chain

Plan	Firm must have a plan for managing al resources that go toward meeting customer demand for g/s
Source	Firms must carefully choose reliable suppliers
Make	Manufacturing stage
Deliver	Known as logistics: set of processes that plans for and controls the efficient and effective transportation and storage of goods
Return	Most problematic step in supply chain – firms must create networks for receiving defective and excess products and support customers w/ problems with their goods

The five persons in the supply chain include: (these may change depending on what business model is used e.g. e-commerce)

1. supplier

2. manufacturer

3. distributer

4. retailer

5. customer

http://www.productionplanning.com/graphics/production_planning/DLOGSupplyChain.jpg

Define the relationship between IT and the supply chain

IT plays a crucial role in the supply chain. IT enables the integration of process and information linkages between functions of a firm or between other firms, suppliers, customers etc to be analysed. IT also enables firms to monitor their supply chain and through the information gathered from this stage create informed forecasts and plans for future business goals and objectives. SCM heavily relies on IT to make accurate decisions regarding inventory, need for business processes, reducing costs etc. Without IT, it would be impossible to accurately monitor a large supply chain.

Week Seven: Weekly Questions

1. Explain the business benefits of using wireless technology.

There are various benefits businesses may experience through the use of wireless technology. Wireless technology enables firms to gain a universal access to information and applications. The use of such technology enables people and mobile devices to gain access to information globally 24/7 from either their beds or their office desks. Wireless technology also proves to be a beneficial process for firms as it enables the automation of business processes. This means that wireless devices are able to centralise business processes and abolish processes that prove to be unnecessary e.g. products may be ordered using a wireless device such as an iPhone rather than a wired computer. Lastly, wireless technologies also prove to be beneficial for businesses as such technology enables convenience to be achieved. This can be displayed as employees are able to access the internet to check their emails or to engage on online teleconferencing online from the airport or from their homes. The overall benefits of using wireless technology are:

- ability to have mobile machines

- less hardware/IT infrastructure required

- increased productivity as processes/systems are available 24/7

- greater convenience

- universal accessibility

Graphical representation of wireless technologies (http://www.tentechnologies.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/wireless.jpg)

2. Describe the business benefits associated with VoIP

VOIP proves to be very beneficial for firms as it uses TCP/IP technology to transmit phone calls using internet technology enabling calls to be transferred at a faster rate. VOIP does not require traditional cooper wire running through the users house and prevents consumers from being reliant on Telstra or other telecommunication providers for voice traffic. Also, the use of VOIP as it disintermediates the use of a phone line, proves to be much cheaper than traditional methods of calling people. Therefore, VOIP proves to be beneficial for most firms as it involves cheaper telephones and lower operating costs. VOIP services are also easier to relocate for if a firm moved its business and convergence provides lower cost WAN connectivity. (http://www.alltel.com.au/voipbenefits.html)

Graphical representation of VOIP (http://www.dyna3c.com/new/voip/pic/voip_HowItWorks_0203v2.jpg)

3. Compare LANs and WANs

Local area network (LAN): designed to connect a group of computers in proximity of each other

- enables sharing of resources e.g. files, printers through authentication and authorisation

- connects to other LANs and to the internet

Wide area network (WAN): spans a large geographic area e.g. state or country & connect multiple smaller networks e.g. local area networks

• data communication links between companies and suppliers or customers successfully enable strategic advantage e.g. in Notre Dame network systems in Perth are connected with systems in Sydney

Therefore, LANs connect computers in close proximity to each other, whereas, WANs are able to connect computers dispersed over a large geographical region.

4. Describe RFID and how it can be used to help make a supply chain more effective.

Radio Frequency Identification uses active or passive tags in the form of chips or smart labels that can store unique identifiers and relay this information to electronic readers. Such RFID tags are often smaller than a grain of sand and combine tiny chips with an antenna. RFID can be used to help make a supply chain more effective as because RFID’s are regularly used in the tracking of inventory, they will be able to replace barcodes and enable the transmission of stronger and more accurate data.

Unusual uses of RFID

• preventing toilets from overflowing
• identifying human remains
• getting into nightclubs
• cooking with robots
• timing athletic events

Common uses of RFID

• passports contain chips that instantly send data regarding the time/place of a passenger
• transportation: eTags are used to pay tolls

SUMMARY:

A RFID is a small device that can send information back to a large database. RFIDs are beneficial for the supply chain as movement of goods and services from manufacturers to customers can be tracked using an RFID scanner. This promotes efficiency and productivity and allows stock that is on 'par level' to be counted systematically.

YOUTUBE: Video representation of RFID Technology (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zj7txoDxbE)

5. Identify the advantages and disadvantage of deploying mobile technology

There are various benefits and negativities associated with deploying or implementing mobile technologies in firms. Such advantages and disadvantages are detailed in the table below:

Advantages

Disadvantages

· financial services – use of wireless banking, payments etc create efficiencies · wireless electronics payment systems – can pay bills online using wireless technologies · mobile wallets – technologies enable cardholders to make purchases online · enables staff to access wireless devices wherever they are to engage in business e.g. responding to emails or engaging in a teleconference from an airport · allows users to access information if they are not near a wired computing device * creates a mobile workforce * allows real-time processing

· security risks of conducting banking online are critical · may negatively impact on staff as they may be inclined to work when wouldn’t traditionally if such technology didn’t exist * mobile technology is very insecure if it has not been set up correctly * radio signals may be detrimental to users health * privacy issues exist e.g. mobile phones with cameras and blue-tooth hacking

Example of a mobile device - a PDA (http://www.insidemind.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ipaq-pda-pocket-pc.jpg)

Week Six: Questions

1. List, describe and provide an example of each of the five characteristics of high quality information.

It is crucial that firms ensure that their information is constantly of a high quality. There are various attributes of high quality information. Five characteristics include accuracy, completeness, consistency, uniqueness and timeliness. It is essential that the information entered into the database of a firm is accurate and precise as if data is incorrectly entered into a firms system, problems can result. For example, if a salesperson incorrectly enters the address of a customer, the product they ordered may not be delivered to the correct address and may go missing. Information must also be complete. This means that if an employee enters information into a database, all of the information must be entered into the system. Incomplete data entry will also cause dilemmas for a business. For example, if an employee fails to write the suburb and postcode of a customers address, a product will not be able to be sent. Information must also be consistent. This ensures that data is reliable. For example, it would be unacceptable for an employee to type a different street number for a customers address as this would create confusion. The information of a firm should also be unique. This means that data should not be replicated in another system which contains different information. For example the address of a customer should be unique and there should only be one address for that customer. If the customers address appears different in a different system of the firms, the data is not unique. Lastly, for information to be of a high quality, it should be timeliness. This means that information should be current and up to date. For example, firms need to ensure that they are updated with the changing addresses of their clients for billing and shipping purposes.

2. Define the relationship between a database and a database management system

A database is a structured collection of related data and a database management system provides users access to that data. Therefore, it can be displayed that databases and database management systems areinevitably linked and are interdependent of one another.

Example of a Database (http://www.quackit.com/pix/database/tutorial/dbms_sql_server.gif)

3. Describe the advantages a business can gain from using a database

There are various advantages attributed to the use of databases. The advantages that a business would experience from using a database would include increased flexibility. This is because data contained on a database is readily accessible by a wide range of employees. Databases also provide increased scalability and performance as they are able to adapt to changing demands and are able to quickly perform certain tasks/processes. Databases are also advantageous as they reduce information redundancy which is the replication of data over various systems. Information integrity is another advantage associated with the use of databases within a firm. This refers to the quality of data which is ensured through the use of databases. Information security is another advantage associated with the use of databases as databases usually contains strong security features such as passwords, and restricted access levels and controls confining the number of users who can access the firms valuable information contained on the database.

4. Define fundamental concepts of the relational database model

A relational database model is a database that stores information into logical two dimensional tables consisting of rows and columns. There are four key fundamental concepts associated with relational database models which include entities and attributes as well as keys and relationships. An entity in the relational database model is a person, place, thing, transaction or event for which information is stored. Attributes are also included in database models and consist of fields or columns that are characteristics or properties of an entity or class of information. Keys are used in databases to manage information. A primary key is a field that identifies a given entity in a table e.g. customer ID number. A foreign key in the relational database model is a primary key of one table that appears as an attribute in another table and acts to provide a logical relationship between the two tables.

YOUTUBE CLIP: Relational Database Model (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2kbsG8zsLM)

1. 5. Describe the benefits of a data-driven website.

A data-driven website is an intriguing website that is regularly updated to include information specific gained from the firm’s database for its customers. There are various benefits associated with the use of data-driven websites. An advantage of a data-driven website is the enabling of constant development. This type of website enables website owners to make changes to the content of the website at any time. Content management is another benefit of a data-driven website and enables a programmer to make updates whenever needed. Future expandability is another benefit of data-driven websites as such website enables the site to grow faster than it would be possible with a static website (this is done through the constant changing of the websites layout). Data-driven websites also prove to be beneficial as they minimise human error as the information contained on the website is directly linked to the database of a computer, thus doesn’t need to be reentered. Data-driven websites also advantageously allow improved the stability of a firm as such website enables firms to keep track of all their files and information in an easy to view format.

Example of Data-Based Driven Website (http://minotaurdesign.com/design/websites/defaultsize/agribiz_2.jpg)

1. 6. Describe the roles and purposes of data warehouses and data marts in an organization

A data warehouse refers to a database in which information is collected from various sources for the support in decision-making processes. They key role of data warehouses is to aggregate information into a single repository or location to enable management and employees with decision-making processes. Data marts are contained within data warehouses and are multi-dimensional cubes that contain layers of columns and rows of information. The purpose of data marts is to enable employees to easily view the components of different information/inputs within a database.

Example of Data Warehouse (http://exonous.typepad.com/mis/datawarehouse.gif)

Week Five: Weekly Questions

Chapter Five: Weekly Questions

What is information architecture and what is information infrastructure and how do they differ and relate to each other?

Information architecture refers to a general plan implemented within firms that specifies how the information technology systems owned by the business will be implemented by the firm. According to Louis Rosenfeld, “Information architecture is defined as “The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content” (Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Louis Rosenfeld, O’Reilly, 2002). Information infrastructure is another discipline which refers to the actual implementation of information systems such as hardware, software, services and people to perform tasks within a firm. Information infrastructure is closely related to information architecture as it relies on the information technology systems detailed within a plan to be employed within the firm. However, information architecture differs from information infrastructure in the sense that information architecture solely focuses on a theoretical plan of how the firm will implement information technology systems, whereas, information infrastructure refers to a practical process of actually implementing the information systems listed in the information architecture plan.

Describe how an organisation can implement a solid information architecture

It is essential for all organisations to implement a solid information architecture. Such architecture can be created by management during planning time and can be implemented on a daily basis by ensuring employees are aware of the objectives of different information systems such as hardware, software, services and their actual labour to ensure such processes are enforced to meet their objectives. Information architecture can also be implemented through the creation and adherence of a strong information security plan and also by managing employee access to databases. Data patches, which are pieces of software designed to solve problems or update programs using data as well as antivirus software such as Norton Anti-Virus can also be implemented to ensure solid information architecture is maintained within a firm. To ensure a solid information architecture exists within a firm, back up and disaster recovery systems should be enforced and data should remain secure.

List and describe the five requirement characteristics of infrastructure architecture

There are five key characteristics that a solid infrastructure architecture should consist of. Such characteristics include reliability, scalability, flexibility, availability and performance. It is essential for the infrastructure architecture of a firm to be reliable and dependable because this will ensure high accuracy and will prevent a firm from becoming in threatened. Scalability is another characteristic of infrastructure architecture and refers to the process of ensuring a firms systems meet growth requirements. Infrastructure architectures must also be flexible and be able to easily adapt to changing business demands and external competition. Availability is another key requirement of a solid infrastructure architecture and infers the necessity of a firms system to be available 99.999% of the time to ensure business continuity and success. Performance is an essential characteristic of infrastructure architecture and refers to how quickly a system can perform certain tasks for example processing a customers order. It is essential that the systems within a firms infrastructure architecture perform at an optimal speed to combat the growing pressure for systems to perform at a faster pace.

Five Characteristics of Infrastructure Architecture (Baltzan et al)

Describe the business value in deploying a service orientated architecture

A service orientated architecture is an architectural approach that integrates business services as linked, repeatable tasks. Such services communicate with each other through the transmitting of metadata and allow the re-use of applications/services creating an economical benefit. Service orientated architectures can add value to a firm is it allows businesses to ‘plug in new services’, upgrade existing services, respond swiftly and economically to changing market conditions. This allows the use of existing systems in different ways to meet different demands and is beneficial as it allows a firm to quickly and easily adapt to changing circumstances to meet varying demands. The other characteristics associated with service orientated architecture which add business value in deploying services include: (http://www.sun.com/products/soa/benefits.jsp)

• Improved business visibility: Integrated systems and aggregated data allow for a more consistent and accurate view of a firms customers
• Achieve Business Flexibility: Create an integrated, agile software infrastructure for quickly responding to business needs
• Gain Business Efficiency: Streamline, automate, and enable better tracking and visibility of your business processes

SOA (http://www.sun.com/products/soa/benefits.jsp)

What is an event?

In terms of information technology, an event is an electronic message transmitted to ones computer that identifies something has happened. An event can also detect threats and opportunities and accordingly alert such messages to those who can make use and act on the information provided. According to ITIL Service Operation book, Page 35, an event is "any detectable or discernable occurrence that has significance for the management of the IT infrastructure or the delivery of IT service and evaluation of the impact a deviation might cause to the services”. E.g. new employee on a system

Example of an event https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBVxVWvaUZZuD2oB5mXKzEx0ySvew5awVCFp_KAP09N7aKGg16w6BC7LfwHHRhbZicFJr_PyF0DG9QjaAUfKGMptWE285hnnE8eAvouJ3mVT7N6KVN_8wEb5kgjX343STwtqVNvG-4T8o/s400/Event+ID+52.JPG

What is a service?

In terms of information technology, a service refers to the collaboration of a set of related commands that can be reused, such as a software products like Microsoft Word. Reusable services prove to be resource efficient as they reduce costs and improve productivity.

What emerging technologies can companies use to increase performance and utilize their infrastructure more effectively?

Grid computing is an emerging technology that can be employed by firms to increase their performance and to utilize their infrastructure more effectively. According to (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-grid-computing.htm), Grid computing is the act of sharing tasks over multiple computers. Tasks can range from data storage to complex calculations and can be spread over large geographical distances. Grid computing is beneficial to the performance and utilisation of infrastructure as it allows idle computers across the firm’s network to be employed for better use and also allows users to offer their free-processing time on home computers to firms. Other benefits that grid computing would create for businesses include:

• improved productivity and collaboration of virtual organisations
• widely dispersed departments to create virtual organisations
• creation of robust and flexible operational architectures
• allowing constant access to computing and data resources

(Business Driven Information Systems, Baltzan et al, 2010)

Graphical explanation of grid computing: (http://www.nusacm.org/newsletter/v116.gif)