Information Systems in Organizations Essay

Information systems (IS) is the study of complementary networks of hardware and software that people and organizations use to collect, filter, process, create, and distribute data. The study bridges business and computer science using the theoretical foundations of information and computation to study various business models and related algorithmic processes within a computer science discipline. Computer Information System(s) (CIS) is a field studying computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, their software and hardware designs, their applications, and their impact on society while IS emphasizes functionality over design. The history of information systems coincides with the history of computer science that began long before the modern discipline of computer science emerged in thetwentieth century. Regarding the circulation of   information and ideas, numerous legacy information systems still exist today that are continuously updated to promote ethnographic approaches, to ensure data integrity, and to improve the social effectiveness & efficiency of the whole process. In general, information systems are focused upon processing information within organizations, especially within business enterprises, and sharing the benefits with modern society. Human Resources Human resources is the set of individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector or an economy. â€Å"Human capital† is sometimes used synonymously with human resources, although human capital typically refers to a more narrow view; i.e., the knowledge the individuals embody and can contribute to an organization. Likewise, other terms sometimes used include â€Å"manpower†, â€Å"talent†, â€Å"labor† or simply â€Å"people†. The professional discipline and business function that oversees an organization’s human resources is called human resource management (HRM, or simply HR). Sales and marketing Sales is what you do and say during the one moment your product or service is being purchased. It’s confirming the payment options. Sales people have to feed the Marketing process and use the resources effectively that they had a part in building. There needs to be a partnership between the Sales and Marketing departments. Marketing is what you do (Sales people and Marketing people), before and after the sale. It is the strategy that will identify prospects that will lead to the sale. Marketing is learning about your client needs and delivering on them (or realizing there is not a fit with a prospect). Marketing is about building awareness and relationships – it’s everything that makes ‘the phone ring’ the first time and convinces past customers to buy from you again. Marketing includes anything that comes into contact with your customer. Finance Finance is the study of how investors allocate their assets over time under conditions of certainty and uncertainty. A key point in finance, which affects decisions, is the time value of money, which states that a unit of currency today is worth more than the same unit of currency tomorrow. Finance aims to price assets based on their risk level, and expected rate of return. Finance can be broken into three different sub categories: public finance, corporate finance and personal finance. Characteristics Of Information Good information is that which is used and which creates value. Experience and research shows that good information has numerous qualities. Good information is relevant for its purpose, sufficiently accurate for its purpose, complete enough for the problem, reliable and targeted to the right person. It is also communicated in time for its purpose, contains the right level of detail and is communicated by an appropriate channel, i.e. one that is understandable to the user. Further details of these characteristics related to organizational information for decision-making follows. Availability/accessibility Information should be easy to obtain or access. Information kept in a book of some kind is only available and easy to access if you have the book to hand. A good example of availability is a telephone directory, as every home has one for its local area. It is probably the first place you look for a local number. But nobody keeps the whole country’s telephone books so for numbers further afield you probably phone a directory enquiry number. For business premises, say for a hotel in London, you would probably use the Internet. Businesses used to keep customer details on a card-index system at the customer’s branch. If the customer visited a different branch a telephone call would be needed to check details. Now, with centralized computer systems, businesses like banks and building societies can access any customer’s data from any branch. Accuracy Information needs to be accurate enough for the use to which it is going to be put. To obtain information that is 100% accurate is usually unrealistic as it is likely to be too expensive to produce on time. The degree of  accuracy depends upon the circumstances. At operational levels information may need to be accurate to the nearest penny – on a supermarket till receipt, for example. At tactical level department heads may see weekly summaries correct to the nearest  £100, whereas at strategic level directors may look at comparing stores’ performances over several months to the nearest  £100,000 per month. Accuracy is important. As an example, if government statistics based on the last census wrongly show an increase in births within an area, plans may be made to build schools and construction companies may invest in new housing developments. In these cases any investment may not be recouped. Reliability or objectivity Reliability deals with the truth of information or the objectivity with which it is presented. You can only really use information confidently if you are sure of its reliability and objectivity. When researching for an essay in any subject, we might make straight for the library to find a suitable book. We are reasonably confident that the information found in a book, especially one that the library has purchased, is reliable and (in the case of factual information) objective. The book has been written and the author’s name is usually printed for all to see. The publisher should have employed an editor and an expert in the field to edit the book and question any factual doubts they may have. In short, much time and energy goes into publishing a book and for that reason we can be reasonably confident that the information is reliable and objective. Compare that to finding information on the Internet where anybody can write unedited and unverified material and ‘publish’ it on the web. Unless you know who the author is, or a reputable university or government agency backs up the research, then you cannot be sure that the information is reliable. Some Internet websites are like vanity publishing, where anyone can write a book and pay certain (vanity) publishers to publish it. Relevance/appropriateness Information should be relevant to the purpose for which it is required. It must be suitable. What is relevant for one manager may not be relevant for another. The user will become frustrated if information contains data  irrelevant to the task in hand. For example, a market research company may give information on users’ perceptions of the quality of a product. This is not relevant for the manager who wants to know opinions on relative prices of the product and its rivals. The information gained would not be relevant to the purpose. Completeness Information should contain all the details required by the user. Otherwise, it may not be useful as the basis for making a decision. For example, if an organization is supplied with information regarding the costs of supplying a fleet of cars for the sales force, and servicing and maintenance costs are not included, then a costing based on the information supplied will be considerably underestimated. Ideally all the information needed for a particular decision should be available. However, this rarely happens; good information is often incomplete. To meet all the needs of the situation, you often have to collect it from a variety of sources. Level of detail/conciseness Information should be in a form that is short enough to allow for its examination and use. There should be no extraneous information. For example, it is very common practice to summarize financial data and present this information, both in the form of figures and by using a chart or graph. We would say that the graph is more concise than the tables of figures as there is little or no extraneous information in the graph or chart. Clearly there is a trade-off between level of detail and conciseness. Presentation The presentation of information is important to the user. Information can be more easily assimilated if it is aesthetically pleasing. For example, a marketing report that includes graphs of statistics will be more concise as well as more aesthetically pleasing to the users within the organization. Many organizations use presentation software and show summary information via a data projector. These presentations have usually been well thought out to be visually attractive and to convey the correct amount of detail. Timing Information must be on time for the purpose for which it is required. Information received too late will be irrelevant. For example, if you receive a brochure from a theatre and notice there was a concert by your favorite band yesterday, then the information is too late to be of use. Value of information The relative importance of information for decision-making can increase or decrease its value to an organization. For example, an organization requires information on a competitor’s performance that is critical to their own decision on whether to invest in new machinery for their factory. The value of this information would be high. Always keep in mind that information should be available on time, within cost constraints and be legally obtained. Cost of information Information should be available within set cost levels that may vary dependent on situation. If costs are too high to obtain information an organization may decide to seek slightly less comprehensive information elsewhere. For example, an organization wants to commission a market survey on a new product. The survey could cost more than the forecast initial profit from the product. In that situation, the organization would probably decide that a less costly source of information should be used, even if it may give inferior information.

Bharti Enterprises

Ensuring that the look and feel of the store is as per guidelines/standards Ensuring/ reporting Inventory and Stock availability as per the norms to prevent stock-outs Provide suggestions /feedback to improve store productivity People Development / Team Management: Acting as a mentor and trainer for store staff To ensure daily roistering briefing to inbound outbound store staff Customer Experience: Manage staff allocation based on demand at point in time Personally step in to handle demanding customers Provide suggestions for improvements in CE 4. A. On Diversity and Cultural spread in Africa, As Africa consists of 53 countries, to operate successfully it is important to understand the dynamics of each country, including differences in culture, language and especially regulations. Bharti would do well to put in place as few expatriates as possible and have most of its top management from Africa. b. On Infrastructure sharing and cost / capital issues, The biggest driver of network sharing will be the shift in approach of the biggest operators, who had been unwilling to share network to sustain competitive advantage. There is visible network sharing in the markets of Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, and that this is likely to pick up in other markets. c. On Bharti Airtel’s Minute Factor Model, Network sharing and IT outsourcing would help operators bring down costs. While costs could trend down, however they will be higher than in India because of some of the structural costs caused by power shortage and poor infrastructure. 5. Bharti Airtel has a history of making first moves and emerging as the winner just because of that. This is what built the company’s success in India, where it remains the top MNO and second-largest fixed-line operator. In fact, thanks to the massive market it serves at home, at the time it acquired the Zain portfolio in March 2010 Airtel was reckoned to be the fifth largest mobile operator in the world on a proportional subscriber basis, putting it behind the likes of China Mobile, Vodafone Group, American Movil and Telefonica, but ahead of China Unicom. As has been widely covered for over a year now, Airtel has been looking at Africa as a new growth market. While it has a deal with Vodafone for the Channel Islands, Africa is the only other territory outside the Indian subcontinent (including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) that the company has entered. The commonalities are compelling: similar markets, needs and infrastructure. The realities on the ground are somewhat more challenging: logistics, legislative compliance and serious local competition being foremost. The logistics of infrastructure in Africa are an equal challenge for all MNOs. That is a given. Where Airtel might have been overly optimistic is in hoping its Africa model would run similarly to its success in India, based on a first-to-market approach and having some leverage to overcome legislative obstacles. Unfortunately, while Airtel has a 30-year history of being first in India (with pushbutton phones, cordless phones and then mobile), they were not first in Africa. There were major EU, Middle East and South African players there ahead of them. In fact, Airtel’s African expansion is largely thanks to its takeover of Kuwait’s Zain mobile operations in 15 countries. This was a beachhead, not a conquest. Zain only held dominant market share in a few countries. Going up against market leaders such as MTN of South Africa, Airtel applied a strategy of extensive cost cutting. This followed on what it achieved in India, cutting a deal with Ericsson for per-minute fees (rather than upfront payment) that enabled very low-cost call rates from the outset. Airtel has an all-Africa, five-year deal in place with Ericsson for network management that offers similar advantages. Elsewhere, Airtel is engaged with Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei, not keeping all its eggs in one basket, of course. As a Plan B, possibly following on the indecisive outcome of Airtel’s low-cost invasion, the company has previously been negotiating a takeover of or (maybe) a joint venture with MTN itself. How this putative deal is described depends on which company is talking. This has been going on for some four years without a definitive ending. Even if it never happens, it is a signpost of just what Airtel would consider to get its Africa operations truly established.

Bells palsy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bells palsy - Research Paper Example Sudden weakness that affects one side of the face causing it to droop. This is the most crucial symptom of Bell’s palsy. The difficulty arises in closing the eye of that side of the face. 2. Eye becomes dry or produces excessive tears. Sense of taste is also impacted. Bell's palsy also affects saliva production. 3. Numbness is another symptom that is found in the affected side of the face. 4. Sometimes, it pains behind the ear to the affected side of the face. 5. Difficulty in smiling, or in creating facial expressions. 6. Eating and drinking problems on the affected side of the face. 7. Twitching on the affected side of face. Causes and Risk Factors The cause of Bell’s palsy is not quite clear; however, it is believed that herpes infection may cause Bell’s palsy. Viral infection also may cause this disease. Viruses that cause diseases such as chickenpox, respiratory illnesses, rubella, mumps, flu, hand-foot-and-mouth disease may also be responsible for causing B ell's palsy. Other conditions that may be behind this disease are Lyme disease, HIV infection, Sarcoidosis, or middle ear infection. The Bell's palsy occur due to swelling of facial nerve due to any internal or external cause (PubMed Health, 2012). The people who have an upper respiratory infection often are also considered prone to the disease. Pregnant women carry risk during the last trimester and in the first week after giving birth. Statistics reveal that people in their 40s are more prone to the disease. The people with family history are prone to Bell's palsy. Bell's palsy is often a frightening experience when it occurs creating a feeling of stroke; however, stroke symptoms are much more intense unlike Bell’s palsy that usually vanishes after some time. Stroke generates symptoms such as difficulty speaking, numbness in legs and arms, severe headache and dizziness, and blurred vision. Bell's palsy may also cause difficulty in speaking but then the cause is purely muscu lar and nothing related to brain functioning. Bell's palsy may cause some long term complications too that may occur a few months after onset of the disease and that include permanent tightening of the facial muscles and tearing of eye during eating (PubMed Health, 2012). Diagnosis A complete physical examination may diagnose Bell’s palsy. If the condition is due to some brain tumor then MRI or CT scan may be necessary. These tests help ensure if the cause of pressure on facial nerve is tumor or skull fracture. Sometimes, balance test is done to find out if balance nerves are associated. Similarly, hearing tests become necessary if nerve damage has caused damage to inner ear or hearing mechanism. In wider complications, a lumbar puncture test involving cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is carried out so as to eliminate the possibility of autoimmune disease, meningitis or any malign growth of a tumor. Otherwise, Nerve Conduction Test and Electromyography (EMG) may identify Bellâ€℠¢s palsy (Wood, 2012). Nerve Conduction Test The Nerve Conduction Test is done to find the extent of nerve damage by measuring how fast signal moves through nerve. Electromyography (EMG) The test is used to determine the nerve damage and its severity by measuring the electrical activity of a muscle such as speed of conduction through stimulation. Usually, this test is employed along with Nerve Conduction Test. Epidemiology Bell's palsy is not found to show gender predilection. Female teenagers are found to be affected more but males suffer in large numbers once they cross

A Good Man is Hard to Find Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Good Man is Hard to Find - Research Paper Example The short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, is written by Flannery O’Connor. The book was written in 1953. The story, A Good Man is Hard to Find is found in the compilation of short stories, A Good Man is Hard to Find. Other individuals perceive all these occurring at once. This paper will look at how both the theme appears in the short story and how the theme appears in society. This is a short story that mainly makes people think about the probability of dramatic change in a person’s life. The old grandmother in the tale is seen as going through a miraculous and sudden change of heart after losing all members of her family and death herself. The old grandmother is tempted to kill the person who eliminated all her family members. Her actions raise a lot of questions; it is difficult to understand such an action  (Bandy 113). One is not able to explain if the grandmother’s action can be understood religiously or otherwise. This also raises questions on how an extreme event can cause such a situation. It raises questions on whether such a situation can occur at all. A Good Man is Hard to Find begins with the old grandmother protesting to her son, Bailey that she wants to go to Tennessee and not Florida, for the family holiday. Nevertheless, the family has its holiday in Florida. The old grandmother shows her family members malice by having an early day and waiting for them in the car. The old grandmother has worn her best clothes for the trip. She is dressed in her Sunday best so that in case of an accident occurs and she becomes a casualty, she will be identified as a lady. The old grandmother talks about her young days and also comments on whatever they see on the way, during the trip to Florida (O'Connor 23). The old grandmother claims that, during her early days, young people showed more respect to their parents and their homes and individuals only indulged in respectable activities. She also comments on a little pickaninny gesturing from a shack’s door. She claims that the Pickaninny almost certainly does not possess any britches. The old grandmother has a conversation with the owner of an old diner in which they were having lunch. The two were talking about a murderer and escaped convict called The Misfit. Both the grandmother and Red Sammy, the owner of the diner agree that it is difficult to find a decent man (Connie 75). Later on, when the family is back on the road, the old grandmother tries to derail the family members from their Florida trip. She tells the children tales of a nearby home she had stayed at as a young person. The grandmother intrigues the children with her stories of the home until they demand to visit the place. The children persuade their father until he accepts to take them to grandmother’s destination. The old grandmother realizes the home she had visited is not in Georgia but Tennessee. This is after they have covered some distance towards the wrong direction. She become s anxious, disturbs the cat, which is terrified, making the father lose control of the car and land in a trench below the road. After the accident, the old grandmother falsifies an internal harm to get sympathy from the family members. In contrast, the children are thrilled and perceive the accident as a quest. As the father, grandmother, and children are waiting for help, a car with three men, all with guns, approach the scene. One of the three men has glasses. He directs his accomplices to examine the car and engages the father, Bailey in courteous discussion. This is until the old grandmother recognizes him as The Misfit, the escaped convict and murderer. The Misfit directs his fellow criminals to kill the family

BUSINESS LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

BUSINESS LAW - Essay Example Sole proprietorship This form of business organization is one that is organized under the management of an individual. The organization only depends on the contribution of the individual. The setting of this particular organization is based on contribution and profit sharing by an individual. However, this form of business setting can have support from family members or sponsors which do not reflect on the formal participation in the creation of the business entity. According to Ray (2001) sole proprietorship is a creation of a decision making process by one person. He further points out that, this form of business organization survival does not depend on contributions from donors or business partners. Additionally, a sole proprietor may use a business name apart from his legal name to represent his business entity. Ray (2001) points out that the sole proprietor owns all the assets in the business. In describing the formation and operation of a sole proprietorship, Pettet (2005) says that it is only more that buying and selling of services and goods. He further points out that the description of the activities in the business is automatically shaped by the owner’s activities. In this business form, taxation is only done on the business as the source of income for the owner. The owner is not further taxed as an individual. Additionally, the location of a sole proprietor business is decided by the owner and it is not dictated by any law. Advantages (Besley & Brigham, 2008) There are few legal formalities that are involved in its creation There is no profit sharing as the entire profit generated is taken by the proprietor The business entity can benefit from contributions by family members and relatives The capital required for the creation of a sole proprietorship is minimum compared to the amount required for the creation of other business entities. Operating challenges are minimized since no complex record keeping systems are required The unlimited liabi lity status of the owner attracts creditors Disadvantages (Besley & Brigham, 2008) The proprietor incurs all the loss that may be generated by the organization The exposure of this form of business to sponsors is minimized The proprietor is the sole contributor of the capital required The continuity of this form of business entity is made unpredictable. For instance, if the proprietor dies the business may be dissolved There is a minimized exposure to talent and expertise General partnerships This form of business is based on skill and resources contribution by two or more people (Pettet, 2005). Partnerships are legally registered as business creation by two or more people. The contribution by each partner should be voluntary and the contribution by each partner is legally recorded. Such business entities are legally bound by rules and regulation created by governments. The contribution of resources and capital may vary in terms of quantity but must be on agreeable terms and compens ation conditions. The contribution by a partner dictates the sharing profit ratio: the highest contributor of capital and resources get a greater share of the profit. Name of partners, loss and profit sharing ratio, name of partnership, capital of the business of the entity and the provisions in settling differences are the constitution of the legal provisions of general partnerships

The Main Codes Of Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Main Codes Of Ethics - Essay Example There is a difference however in the two groups codes when it comes to whether the principles are obligatory or aspirational. The ASPA's code is much shorter than the ACA's. If you were to ask the author of the ASPA's code if the principles were obligatory, he or she would probably say yes. However, because there is so little detail, the principles are really more aspirational. They do not cover specific situations (unlike the ACA's) and they are full of generalities. The ACA's code is much more specific and lays out what counselors should do when they are faced with various scenarios. This is a better form of guidance. ACA code A2a talks about Informed Consent—this is something much more specific than in the ASPA's code. This difference is noticeable as well in terms of illustrative versus exhaustive elements. The ACA's is exhaustive. It is long and complex and can be used in disciplinary hearings in order to punish counselors who go astray. It details what is appropriate and what is not appropriate regarding relationships with patients. The ASPA's code is not exhaustive. It isn't really illustrative either. It just lays out a few general ground rules. The sad truth is that we need such codes of ethics. Without them, each of these organizations would have trouble with their members. Codes of ethics bind together members. In today's world ethical relativism dominates so it is important to have codes that are carefully written down and that are exhaustive and detailed such as the ACA's. What is ethical relativism?

Hedge Funds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hedge Funds - Essay Example Most of the hedge funds are devised in such a manner that they are able to generate return for the investors with the rate of return that is generally more than the market return and even in times when the market is not performing well due to recession or some other reason. However, a retail investor cannot invest in the hedge fund the same way as he would have done it for stocks or mutual funds. The operations of these funds fall beyond the control of any government regulation and hence it is mainly at the fund manager’s discretion that the investment portfolio would be designed, what strategies would be employed and which stocks are to be included. The main motive behind devising such a fund was to secure the funds from the market risk and to earn more return. Hedge Fund Management and Skill The management of this kind of investment product requires a lot of skill. The fund managers need to have an insight about the market and the various risk management strategies that can help the managers to cover the fund against probable losses and gain profits out of those risky situations. The managers and the investors of these kinds of funds need to be aware of the types of investment risks that they may come across. Since higher the risk taken higher is the possibility of return, the hedge funds often attempt at taking risks that may not be beneficial for the investors. The capabilities and expertise of management of the hedge funds cannot be determined from their past performances because there are a lot of fluctuations in the way the hedge funds tend to perform. If an investor tries to invest in a fund looking at the past performance he might face a lot of challenges because the fund may not perform as before. Hedge Funds and Luck Often the investors of a hedge fund are confused between luck and skill. The common people think that a particular fund performed well because of the efficiency of the manager. But it is not always the case. It might happen becaus e of good luck as well. Most of the hedge funds do not encounter any kind of restrictions and hence their portfolios are not very diversified. For any risk averse individual it is highly risky to invest because the direction in which the market moves may not favour that particular fund. These kinds of funds often result in a mixed performance which may not be favourable for the investors in the long run. Hence, though the skill level of the managers is extremely important for prediction of the market and for choosing the correct investment avenue, the investors cannot rely on the intuition of the fund managers or their past performance solely. There is a luck factor and there should be a certain level of control of expectations on part of the investors because the markets may change its colour due to any kind of unprecedented event and hence may expose them to a risky situation. Hedge Funds and Insider Trading The agency theory is often applicable in case of hedge funds where the fu nd managers act as the agents of the investors. In most cases there exists an information asymmetry between the investors and the managers and the latter take this advantage for deriving undue profit from the market. Since Hedge Funds, are privately owned, they do not fall under the jurisdiction of any rigid regulatory framework. Thus the disclosure requirements of this fund are also less. Thus there may be problems of insider trading in case of hedge funds. The phenomenon of insider trading takes place when a fund manager makes use of any price