Business Processes, Information, and Information

Systems

Chapter 2

Study Processes and Look for Inefficiencies

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A network of activities, resources, facilities, and information that interact to achieve some business function.

Q2: What Is a Business Process?

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Business

Function

Activities

Resources Facilities

Information

FlexTime’s Three Business Processes

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Figure 2-1

Register Participants Process

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Activities—

Transform resources

and information of one type into another

type

Decisions—

A question that can

be answered Yes or No

Roles—

Sets of procedure

s

Resources—

People, or facilities,

or computer programs that are assigned to roles

Repository—

Collection of business

records

Components of a Business Process

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Q3: How Do Information Systems Support Business Processes?

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Figure 2-3

Q3: How Do Information Systems Support Business Processes?

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IS support business processes by:

1.Implementing activities2.Serving as data repositories3.Controlling data flow

Manual Register Participants Process

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Figure 2-4

Fully Automated Register Participants Process

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- fulfills all of the Desk Clerk roles - Data stored in databases - flow of data controlled by application

Manual and Automated Register Participants Process

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Figure 2-5

Check membership activity is manual but Check Class Availability and Add Member to Class are automated.

Knowledge derived from data (recorded facts or figures)

Data that is presented in a meaningful context

Data processed by summing, ordering, averaging, grouping, comparing, or other similar operationsA difference that makes a difference

Q4: What Is Information?

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Q4: What Is Information?

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Data – recorded facts or figures e.g. employee A earns$17.50 per hour and employee B earns $25 per hour.Information – knowledge derived from data e.g. the average hourly wage of all employees who work on the front desk is $22.37Information – data presented in a meaningful context e.g. Employee C earns $10 per hour (data). Employee C earns less than half the hourly wage of front desk clerks (information).

Q4: What Is Information?

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What is information made of? Information is made of data that has been processed in some way to be meaningful to the recipient. If you have more information, do you weigh more? Why or why not? If you are carrying around a 1,000-page report that contains information, then you might say information causes you to physically weigh more. In most situations, however, having more information does not result in a weight gain. It results in a change in your brain. If you give a copy of your transcript to a prospective employer, is that information? If you show that same transcript to your dog, is it still information? Where is the information? A transcript from a prospective employee is meaningful to an employer trying to fill a position. The content of the transcript (courses taken, grades earned) has value in the hiring context. A dog has no use for the content of the transcript and so it has no value to him. If the piece of paper the transcript is printed on is crumpled up, then it might have value to the dog as an item to chase or tear up (depending on the dog).

1. Accurate• Correct and complete• Crucial for management• Cross-check information to ensure accuracy

2. Timely• Produced in time for intended use

3. Relevant to both:• Context• Subject

Characteristics of Good Information

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4. Just barely sufficient•Sufficient for purpose it is generated•Avoid too much or extraneous information

5. Worth its cost

•Relationship between cost and value•Information systems cost money to

develop, maintain, and use•Must be worth that cost

Characteristics of Good Information (cont’d)

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Information Stored in Repositories

Q5 Where Is the Information in Business Processes?

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Check Membership Status

Member

Records

Status

Customer data: Name, Email, Address, Phone(s), DateOfBirthMembership data: DateOfMembership, MembershipType, FeePaid, ExpirationDateCourse data: Name, Description, StandardFee, PromotionalTermsClass data: CourseName, StartDate, EndDate, Instructor, AvailableSeats

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Activity Role

Repository

DataFlow

Decision

Pieces for Assignment 1

ActivityActivity

ActivityActivity

DecisionDecisio

nDecisionDecisio

n

RoleRole

RoleRole

RepositoryReposito

ryRepositoryReposito

ry

DataFlow

DataFlow

DataFlow

DataFlow

Use these pieces to construct a business process. Just drag and drop a shape. Click on the text and type to change the label in the shape. To copy a shape (if you need more), just click on it and select Copy (in Home / Clipboard tab). Then click Paste. To remove an unneeded shape, just click on it and press the delete key. Click Ctrl+Z to undo any action.

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Solicit MembershipsProcess

Check Membership

Status

Member? Yes

No

Check Class Availability

Available?

ScheduleClassProcess

No

YesClassRequest

MemberData

MembershipRequest

Add Member to Class

Number SeatsAvailable

Mem

ber

Data

Member

Records

Class Roster

Register Participants ProcessFigure 2-2

Desk Clerk Desk Clerk

Desk Clerk

Activity

Role

Repository

DataFlow

Decision

Key

Member