1. Enterprise Computing Lecture 5

2. In this lecture... • Describe information requirements of organisations • Describe typical organisations in terms of structure, function and perspective • Identify information systems used in the functional units of an enterprise • Describe how information systems assist organisations in achieving business objectives Refer to chapter 14, Shelly, Cashman and Vermaat

3. What is an enterprise? • An organisation • for profit • Public service - schools, hospitals, libraries etc • Government organisations and departments • Community service organisations • Scale is important - 'enterprise' usually implies larger organisations

4. Enterprise computing • Computing information systems that assist the enterprise in achieving its objectives • Decision making • Research and development • Transaction record keeping • Customer and product tracking and servicing • Manufacturing/production • Administration and communication • Both within and outside the enterprise • Local, national, world-wide

5. Organisational structure • To understand how best to design information systems for an enterprise, it helps to understand organisational structure • Note that there are many different structures, this lecture presents the mainstream, typical structure found in "Western" business • Organisations can be viewed from many perspectives: • Organisation chart • Functional divisions • Management level

6. Organisational chart

7. Management levels Strategic Type of decision making Tactical Operational

8. Types of decision • Strategic • Long-term • Aims • Tactical • Shorter range • Apply to specific situations • Are made to achieve strategic aims • Operational • Day-to-day • Support middle management Upper Management Middle Management Operational Management

9. Strategic Highly summarised From across whole enterprise Tactical Summarised day/week/month Often function or department specific Operational Transaction recording Highly itemised Example - a supermarket A summary of the operation of the whole organisation Reports for the day/week in each area e.g. staffing, purchasing, fruit & vegetables departments The itemised information from the checkouts Different types of information

10. Functional divisions • Accounting and Finance • Human Resources • Production • Marketing • Sales • Information Systems There is often overlap

11. Information systems within functions • Accounting and Finance • Software for all level of management, from transactions to summaries and forecasts • Human Resources • Human Resources Information System (HRIS) • For larger organisations • Employee Relationship Management (ERM) system • Manages communication between employees and management

12. Information systems within functions Production • Development • Computer Aided Design (CAD) • Design, plan, models • Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) • Test product designs • Project management software • Manufacturing • Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) • Control the manufacturing process

13. CAD

14. Example of CAM

15. Information systems within functions Marketing Note that this is a web based application

16. Information systems across functions • These are used across many divisions or functions within the company. This makes sharing and cooperating easier • Office Information Systems • Often involves an intranet • Used to automate general office functions • Usually includes word processing, spreadsheets etc

17. Information systems across functions Transaction processing system • Captures and processes information from day-to-day business activities • Activity within the company (e.g. production) • Interaction activity e.g. sales, orders, suppliers

18. Information systems across functions Decision Support Systems (DSS) • Can be a spreadsheet or a specialised application • Analyse data and make decisions • Usually allows testing - "what-if" • The example is a hand-held DSS for use with decisions related to chemical and gas pollution hazards

19. Information systems across functions Expert Systems • Captures and stores the knowledge of human experts and then… • Imitates human reasoning and decision making • Examples • Everyday business decisions • Legal decisions • Medical diagnosis http://www.myelectronicmd.com/step2.php

20. Integrated Information Systems • Two examples • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) • Customer information • Interactions with customers • Past purchases, preferences • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) • Centralised, integrated software that helps manage and coordinate activities across the whole organisation, at all levels and in all functions • See diagram next slide

21. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) HR Customer Support Accounting/Finance Sales Marketing and more