Data, Information, and Knowledge
Data: Data represents information which is still in its raw form and need to processed and analyzed in order to be used by the final user. They are generally the facts that are collected from an event for future reference.
Information: Information is the refined form of data which has been evolved out of processing and analyzing the raw information. It is processed in such a way that it solves the purpose of the end user.
Knowledge: Knowledge is an ability of an individual to apply their experience to process the data and information to extract a meaning. Knowledge develops through the values and experiences of an individual (Liew, 2007).
- The lack of knowledge on the part of the managers or analysts about the information system.
- The resistance to change is another big problem. If the managers or user of the information system is unable to use it then they will resist them.
- The lack of qualified human resource in an organization that will not be able to handle or implement the information system in the organization.
- The data so collected should be accurate in order to process in the information system.
- The organization finds it difficult to search for programmers and analyst who can design an effective information system and maintain it.
- The investment can also be a big challenge in managing the information system (Babaei & Beikzad, 2013).
The Shareholder theory believes that the main concern of the business should be to fulfill the interest of shareholder which is higher return in terms of profits (Mertens, 2013). The stakeholder theory believes that the business have some moral obligation towards the people who are directly related to the business. These are known as stakeholders and it includes employees, community and the employees (Harrison & Wicks, 2013). The social contract theory believes that the organization has a social contract with the society and the decisions should be taken in the best interest of the society (Aondohemba, 2015). The differences between these theories are that the stockholder theory focuses on maximizing the values of the shareholders, the stakeholder theory focus on maximizing the interest of stakeholders and social contract believes in maximizing the interest of the society as a whole.
Also the business decisions taken under the stakeholder theory should only focus on earning high return, the stakeholder theory analysis the impact of business decisions on the stakeholders and in social contract theory the social interest in business decisions is matter the most as compared to commercial interest. Ethics and morale is neglected in the stockholder theory but it is very important in stakeholders and social contract theory (Freeman, n.d.).
Business continuity plan is a pragmatic approach towards developing an action plan to revive or recover the business after a disaster or crisis within a specified period of time. The components are:
- Identification of Potential Risk: The first step is to identify potential threats that an organization may face in the future. A Risk management plan should be made for contingencies.
- Preparedness: This step includes preparing for the contingencies. It focuses on analyzing the impact on the business after the occurrence of crisis and identifies the recovery requirement for the affected business.
- Response: This step occurs after the occurrence of the crisis or disaster. It includes necessary actions that are required to avoid any further loss or damage. Arranging and allocating resources and training the human resource so that they can contribute in mitigating the impact of risk and to identify the recovery requirement.
- Recovery: This step includes steps and course of action taken to recover the business from the crisis in the shortest possible time (IIA, 2014).
All these components are related to each other. Without identifying the potential risk a business cannot be able to face the contingencies or without preparing a recovery plan a business cannot resume its operations and without preparing for the crisis situation a business will collapse in the tough times (Queensland Government, 2009).
Business System and Entity-Relationship Diagrams
The hazardous waste generated from electronic devices is known as the E-waste. The rapid use of electronic products in the organization and society as a whole has led to a technological revolution in the 21 century. The waste generated out of the electronic products has a serious implication on the human as well as environmental health. The up gradation of new products from the outdated electronic products has led to the creation of 20 to 50 million tons of E-waste annually (UNEP, 2006). The cost of human health is much higher than the E-waste.
The waste contains lead, acid; mercury, cadmium etc. have serious health risks for the individuals who are involved in handling the E-waste. Many of the components present in the e-waste are toxic and not biodegradable. The developed countries in order to save their cost are dumping their waste into developing nations who have weak environmental standards but high potential of health and environmental risk. In order to control the commercial interest of the organization and promote social interest, certain guidelines are prepared in order to control the impact of hazardous e-waste material (Khan, 2014).
PAPA framework stands for Privacy, accuracy, property and accessibility. This framework is developed to address the ethical issues prevailing in sharing and maintaining personal information in today’s age of information and technology.
Privacy: It is the right of an individual to retain certain personal information about them which they find sensitive to reveal to the third party.
Accuracy: Accuracy refers to the promptness and relevance of the presented information.
Property: It refers to the ownership of the information which deals with how it will be accessed by the other party and what should be the exchange value.
Accessibility: It refers to the availability and right to use the information to the potential users (Martin, 2015).
Censorship refers to the restricting the free access to any information (Duthie, 2010). The information that is censored is may be objectionable and sensitive to reveal.
- Censorship is the repression of the freedom of speech which means exchange of ideas and views without any restriction.
- It demotivates the free flow of ideas and knowledge in the society and there is a fear that if individuals express freely they may get punished.
- Only the obscene and sensitive information should be censored while complying with all the laws (Fieser, 2008).
Internet security has been a major issue of concern in today’s world. The users store all their important information on the electronic devices or on the web server by securing it through a password or a PIN. But they do not assure full security of personal data. There are certain issues involved in keeping a password and a pin.
- Whenever is password and a PIN is needed to be created for securing an information, the website asks the user to create a strong password which cannot be guessed by anyone. As a result user create strong password which they are not able to remember and jot it down somewhere in their mobile or notes. This can easily be accessed by anyone.
- When a user is entering a password, it can easily be detected through hand movement on keyboard or by shoulder surfing and it can easily be misused.
- Not much websites uses encrypted technology which means the password and PIN entered in those websites have very high chances of unauthorized access (NIST, 2009).
Strategic Information System: In order to keep pace with competition prevailing in the market, an organization does strategic planning to gain a competitive advantage. Strategic information system is information system that is merged with strategic goals of the organization in order to achieve a competitive position in the market. The SIS can be used to change the scope of competition in following ways:
- Cost advantage: By using SIS in an organization, it significantly lower downs the cost of operations. By selling products or enquiring or buying products from the supplier online can reduce the cost. Also, maintaining the business data on the information system can be very cost effective.
- Innovation: By creating an innovative platform for the business an information system can help an organization to out pass their competitors. Fed ex became first in their field to offer online tracking services and this was only possible with the help of SIS.
- Customer satisfaction: SIS helps an organization to reach to a broader customer segment, with the help of the technology a company can offer more products and services and can also resolve their query and issues in very less time. Customer satisfaction is the keu to success in the market (Pearlson & Saunders, 2010).
Competition and IT Architecture
Entity-Relationship diagram: ER diagram is a data modeling technique that is used to represent a relationship between different entities through a logical flowchart. Relationship in an ER Diagram is classified as connectivity and cardinality.
Connectivity: Connectivity defines the type of relationship existing between the entities. It can be:
- One to One (1:1) – It means that one entity is associated with another entity with one instance.
- One to Many (1: M) – It means that one entity is associated with another entity with zero, one or many instance.
- Many to Many (M: M) – It means that many different entity is associated with zero, one or many instance.
- Many to One (M: 1) – It implies that many different entity is related to one entity.
Cardinality: Cardinality refers to the minimum and maximum number of times an entity can be associated with the other entity. In connectivity there is no limit mentioned as to how many times a data can be associated to an entity but in cardinality there is a specified limit on the occurrence of data to be related to an entity.
Information system planning is the crucial element in strategic planning of an organization. Strategic planning refers to make strategies and changes in order to achieve desired goals and objectives and in order to achieve these goals the information system of an organization should be developed in such a manner that it supports the main business plan. The role of manager is to align the IS plan with the business plan and ensure its implementation in a strategic manner. The role of managers are:
Resource allocation: The manager in order to build up an effective IS, should arrange all the necessary funds and get it approved by authorities.
Training: A manager has to train its employees and professionals to understand the importance of IS planning and provide them with training so that they can execute the IS plan with the strategic business plan.
Review: The final responsibility of the manger is to review the IS plan that whether the plan is complimenting the main business plan or not and also whether the IS plan is sufficient to meet the business priorities.
Information system planning is an ongoing activity and it needs to reviewed and managed on a time basis, so that organization can gain a competitive advantage (Fergerson, 2012).
A system is a defined process or procedure that has been designed by a professional to achieve a desired set of results in the future. A business system refers to a logical structure that has been designed in order to give an organization a competitive edge in the market. A business system is important to manage and control the operations of the organization. For this purpose Business system of Amazon have been reviewed. Amazon has developed a transaction processing system, which includes: 1-Click Purchase: Amazon has been a leader in online shopping websites for quite long. They are providing user one buy click options in which user can directly place the order. After placing the order, the payment mode is secured through encryption technology. Amazon also display recommendations on the basis of order or search history. The major objective of this business system is to encourage buying behavior among the consumer by providing them user friends shopping interface and to maximize customer satisfaction. The only limitation Amazon is facing that every other shopping website have integrated this business system in their business. In order to maintain its competitive image, Amazon should think of innovation in their business system so that they can ensure customer loyalty and customer retention (Imran, 2014).
References
Babei, M. (2013), Management information system, challenges and solutions, European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences 2013, Accessed from european-science.com/eojnss/article/download/401/205 on 9 April 2017.
Duthie, F. (2010). Libraries and the Ethics of Censorship, Accessed from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00049670.2010.10735994 on 9 April 2017.
Fergerson, B. (2012), Key Stages of Strategic Information System Planning (SISP) Methods and Alignment to Strategic Management Planning Concept,. Accessed from https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/12255/Fergerson2012.pdf;sequence=1 on 9 April 2017.
Fieser, J. (2008), CENSORSHIP From Moral Issues that Divide Us, Accessed from https://www.utm.edu/staff/jfieser/class/160/4-censorship.html on 9 April 2017.
Freeman, E.R. (n.d.), Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation, Accessed from https://businessethics.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2012/01/Freeman.pdf on 9 April 2017.
Harrison, S.J. & Wicks, A.C. (2013), Stakeholder Theory, Value, and Firm Performance, BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY, Accessed from https://centres.insead.edu/social-innovation/what-we-do/documents/stakehodertheory.pdf on 9 April 2017.
IIA. (2014). BUSINESS CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT, Accessed from https://www.iia.org.uk/media/599076/business-continuity-management.pdf on 9 April 2017.
Imran, A.M.A. (2014), A STUDY ON AMAZON: INFORMATION SYSTEMS, BUSINESS STRATEGIES AND e-CRM, Accessed from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261440748_A_STUDY_ON_AMAZON_INFORMATION_SYSTEMS_BUSINESS_STRATEGIES_AND_e-CRM on 9 April 2017.
Khan, S. (2014). Electronic waste governance: sustainable solutions to a global dilemma, Accessed from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43811589_Electronic_waste_governance_sustainable_solutions_to_a_global_dilemma on 9 April 2017.
Liew, A. (2007), Understanding Data, Information, Knowledge And Their Inter-Relationships, Journal of Knowledge Management Practice, Accessed from https://www.tlainc.com/articl134.htm on 9 April 2017.
Martin, N.L. (2010). Expansion and Validation of the PAPA Framework, Accessed from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280924511_Expansion_and_Validation_of_the_PAPA_Framework on 9 April 2017.
Mertens, E.M.K. (2013), Milton Friedman and Social Responsibility, Accessed from https://www.duo.uio.no/bitstream/handle/10852/38408/Mertens_Filsosofi_Master.pdf?sequence=%20https://www.academicjournals.org/journal/AJPSIR/article-full-text-pdf/99A103649804 on 9 April 2017.
NIST. (2009), Guide to Enterprise Password Management (Draft), Accessed from https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/drafts/800-118/draft-sp800-118.pdf on 9 April 2017.
Pearlson, K. E. & Saunders, C. S. (2010), Managing and Using Information Systems: A Strategic Approach, Fourth Edition, John Wiley & Sons, USA.
Queensland Government. (2009), Building Business Resilience Business Continuity Planning, Accessed from https://www.mackay.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/151434/Business_Continuity_Planning_Guide.pdf on 9 April 2017.
UNEP. (2006). Basel Conference Addresses Electronic Waste Challenge, Press Release (Nairobi, 27 November 2006).