The following questions are based on chapter 2 of Management Information Systems, 14th Edition.
2.1- What are business processes? How are they related to information systems?
• Define business processes and describe the role they play in organizations.
• Describe the relationship between information systems and business processes.
2.2- Why are systems for collaboration and social business so important and what technologies do they use?
• Define collaboration and social business, and explain why they have become so important in business today.
• List and describe the business benefits of collaboration and social business.
• Describe a supportive organizational culture and business processes for collaboration.
• List and describe the various types of collaboration and social business tools.
2.3- Identify the steps that are performed in the process of selecting and checking out a book from your college library and the information that flows among these activities. Diagram the process. Are there any ways this process could be changed to improve the performance of your library or your school? Diagram the improved process.
2.4- Henry's Hardware is a small family business in Sacramento, California. The owners, Henry and Kathleen must use every square foot of store space as profitably as possible. They have never kept detailed inventory or sales records. As soon as a shipment of goods arrives, the items are immediately placed on store shelves. Invoices from suppliers are only kept for tax purposes. When an item is sold, the item number and price are rung up at the cash register. The owners use their own judgment in identifying items that need to be reordered. What is the business impact of this situation? How could information systems help Henry and Kathleen run their business? What data should these systems capture? What decisions could the systems improve?