Management information system topics and essay question and answers.

1. 1. What are the principal payment systems for electronic commerce?
Name and describe the principal electronic payment systems used on the Internet.
Digital credit card payment systems extend the functionality of c r e d it cards so t h e y can
be used for online shopping payments. They make c r e d i t cards s a f e r a n d more
convenient for online merchants and consumers by providing m e c h a n i s m s for
authenticating the purchaser’s credit card to make sure it is v a l i d a n d arranging for the bank
that issued the credit card to deposit money for t h e a m o u n t of t h e purchase in the
seller’s bank account.
Digital wallets make paying for purchases over the Web more e f f i c i e n t by e l i m i n a t i n g
the need for shoppers to e n t e r t h e i r a d d r e s s a n d c r e d i t card information repeatedly
each time they buy s o m e t h i n g . A d i g i t a l w allet securely stores credit card and owner
identification i n f o r m a t i o n , a n d provides that information at an electronic commerce site’s
“checkout counter.” The digital wallet enters the shopper’s name, credit card number, a n d
shipping in f o r ma tio n automatically when invoked to complete the purchase. Q* W a l l e t
a n d doodle Toolbar AutoFill are examples of digital wallets.
Micropayment systems have been developed for purchases of less t h a n &1 0 such as
downloads of individual articles or music clips, w h i c h w o u l d be too s m a l l for
conventional credit card payments.
Accumulated balance digital payment systems e n a b l e u s e r s to make
micropayments and purchases on the Web, a c c u m u l a t i n g a d e b i t b a l a n c e s th a t
they must pay periodically on t h e i r credit card or t e l e p h o n e bills QPass enables
wireless customers to charge ringtones, games, a n d o t h e r digital products and services to
their monthly phone b ills .

2. Stored value payment systems such as eCount enable c o n s u m e r s to make i n s t a n t
online payments to merchants and other i n d i v i d u a l s based on v a l u e stored in a digital
account. Online value systems rely on t h e value, stored in a consumer's bank, checking, or
credit card account, and some of th e se systems r e q u ir e the use of a digital wallet. Smart
cards are another type of stored value system used f o r micropayments. A smart card is a
plastic card t h e s i z e o f a credit card that stores digital information. The smart card can
store heath records identification data, or telephone numbers, or it can serve as an "electronic
purse' in place of cash. The Mondex smart card contains electronic cash a n d can he used to
transfer funds to merchants in physical storefronts and to m e r c h a n t s on t h e Internet. It
requires use of a special card-reading device whomever the card needs to transfer cash to e i th e r
an o n line or offline merchant.
Digital cash also k n o w n as electronic cash or e-cash) can be used for micropayments
or large purchases. Digital cash is currency represented in
Electronic form that move outside the normal network of money (paper currency, coins, cash, and credit
cards)

3. Peer-to-peer payment systems, s u c h a s P a y P a l , s e r v e p e o p l e who want to
s e n d money to vendors or i n d i v i d u a l s who are not s e t up to use c r e d i t c a r d
p a y m e n t s . The p a r t y s e n d i n g money uses h i s or h e r c r e d i t card to create an
a c c o u n t w i t h t h e des ignated payment at a Web site d e d i c a t e d to peer-to-peer
p a y m e n t s . The r e c i p i e n t "picks up" the payment by v i s i t i n g t h e w e b s i t e a n d
s u p p l y i n g i n f o r m a t i o n about where to send the payment (a b a n k Account or a
physical address).
Digital checking payment systems, s u c h as eCheck, extend the f u n c t i o n a l i t y of
e x i s t i n g c h e c k i n g a c c o u n t s so t h e y can be used for online shopping paym e n t s .
D i g i t a l cheeks are less expensive than credit cards and much f a s t e r t h a n
T r a d i t i o n a l p a pe r - ba s e d c h e c k i n g . These checks are encrypted w i t h a d i g i t a l
M i n i a t u r e t h a t c a n be; v e r i f i e d a n d used for payments in electronic commerce.
Ele c tro nic check systems are useful in business-to-business electronic commerce.
Electronic b i l l i n g presentment and payment systems a r e used for paying
r o u t i n e m o n t h l y bi l ls. They enable users to view t h e i r bills el ect roni cal l y a n d p a y
t h e m t h r o u g h e l e c t r o n i c fund transfers from bank or credit card a c c o u n t s . T h e s e
s e r v i c e s s u p p o r t p a y m e n t for o n l i n e and physical store purchases of goods or
s e r v i c e s a f t e r t h e purchase, has taken place. They n o t i f y p u r c h a s e r s a b o u t b i l l s
t h a t a r e d u e , p r e s e n t t h e b i l l s , a n d process t h e payments. Some, of these s e rvi c es ,
s u c h as C h e c k F r e e , c o n s o l i d a t e subscribers' b i l l s from v a r i o u s s o u r c e s so t h a t
t h e y c a n a l l be p a i d at one t i m e .

4. Describe the types of payment systems used in m-commerce
W i t h a W i - F i c o n n e c t i o n , o n e c a n take a d v a n t a g e of a l l e x i s t i n g forms of
I n t e r n e t payment. M a n y m-commcrce transactions however are small, f r e q u e n t
p ur c h a s e ’ s f o r i t e m s s u c h as soft d r i n k s , sports scones, newspapers, or m o b i l e
games t h a t r eq ui re special m i o r o p a y m e n t systems.
Micropaymcnt systems: m o b i l e operators a n d I n t e r n e t s e r v i c e p r o v i d e r s
h a n d l e s m a l l payments by a d d i n g them up and p r e s e n t i n g t h e m on a single b i l l
such as the mobile telephone b i l l . For example, in London, y o u c a n b u y V i r g i n C o l a
u s i n g a V i r g i n Mobile phone by s i m p l y dialing a number posted on t h e v e n d i n g
machine ( t h e cost of the drink is simply charged to y o u r c e l l p h o n e a c c o u n t ) .
eBay’s PayPal Mobile Text2Buy service allows consumers to s e n d payments to PayPal
M o b i l e accounts, purchase items from s e le c t r e t a i l e r s , or d o n a t e money to some
c h a r i t i e s by punching a short text code i n t o a c e l l phone.
Mobile Wallets: Japanese cell phones act like mobile wallets, containing a variety of payment
mechanisms. Consumers can pay merchants by simply waving the cell phone at a merchant
payment device that accepts payments.
Although still in their infancy in the United States, other countries like Japan use three
kinds of mobile payment systems:
Stored value systems charged by credit cards or bank accounts
Mobile debit cards tied to personal bank accounts
Mobile credit cards

5. 2. What types of systems are used for enterprise wide knowledge management and how do they
provide value for the business?
Define and describe the various types of enterprise wide knowledge management systems and
explain how they provide value for businesses.
Structured Knowledge System: This is a system for organizing structured knowledge in a
repository where it can be accessed throughout the organization. It is also known as content
management system. T h e e s s e n t i a l p r o b l e m in managing s t r u c t u r e d knowledge is
c r e a t i n g an a p p r o p r i a t e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n scheme to organize information i n t o
m e a n i n g f u l c a t e g o r i e s in a knowledge database; that can be easil y accessed by
employees. O n c e t h e c a t e g o r i e s for c l a s s i f y i n g knowledge have been c r e a t e d , e a c h
d o c u m e n t n e e d s to be, “tagged,” or coded, so that search engines can r e t r i e v e , it a n d
t h e q u a l i t y of s e a r c h r e s u l t s c a n be improved. Structured k n o w l e d g e , systems
perform the f u n c t i o n of implementing the tagging, i n t e r f a c i n g w i t h corporate
d a t a b a s e s where the documents are stored, and c r e a t i n g an e n t e r p r i s e p o r t a l
e n v i r o n m e n t for employees to u s e when s e a r c h i n g for corporate knowledge.
Semistructured Knowledge System: This is a system for organizing and storing less
structured information, such as emails, voice mail, videos, graphics, brochures, or bulleting
boards. It is also known as digital asset management system. Semistructured information is all
the digital information in a f i r m t h a t does tic: exist in a formal document or a formal
report. It has been e s t i m a t e d t h a t a t l e a s t 8 0 % of an organization’s business content is
u n s t r u c t u r e d — i n f o r m a t i o n in folders, message's, memos, proposals, e - m a i l s ,

6. g r a p h i c s , e l e c t r o n i c s l i d e Presentations, a n d e v e n videos created in
different formats and stored in many locations.
Knowledge Network Systems: Knowledge Network Systems IS also known as expertise
location and management systems. T h i s i s a n o n l i n e d i c t i o n a r y f o r l o c a t i n g
c o r p o r a t e e x p e r t s i n w e l l - d e f i n e d k n o w l e d g e d o m a i n . Knowledge Network
Systems addresses the problem that arises when the appropriate knowledge is tacit residing
in the memory of expert individuals in the firm. Because such knowledge cannot be
conveniently found, employees spend significant resources rediscovering knowledge.
Knowledge network systems provide an online directory; It corporate e x p e r t s in
w e l l - d e f i n e d knowledge domains and use comm u n i c a t i o n technologies to make it easy for
employees to find the appropriate expert in a company. Some knowledge network systems
go further by systemizi n g the s o l u t i o n s be ing developed by experts and then storing the
solutions a knowledge database as a best practices or frequently asked questions (FAQ)
repository.
3. Describe the role of the following in facilitating knowledge management: portals, wikis, social
bookmarking, & learning management ststems.
Portals: The m a j o r c o m m e r c i a l k n o w l e d g e management system vendors h a v e integrated
t h e i r c o n t e n t and document management capabilities with powerful portal a n d
collaboration technologies. Enterprise knowledge portals can p r o v i d e access to
e x t e r n a l s o u r c e s of i n f o r m a t i o n , such as news feeds a n d research, as w e l l as to
i n t e r n a l knowledge resources along w i t h capabilities for e-m ail, chat i n s t a n t
messaging, d i s c us s i o n groups, and videoconferencing.

7. Wikis: W i k i s are inexpensive, easy to i m p l e m e n t a n d use, a n d do n o t r e q u i r e a
massive software rollout. They are m e a n t to s t i m u l a t e collaboration. Users determine
the content, e l i m i n a t i n g the need for a central dis t ri bu ti on center w i t h extensive;
management. Wikis can centralize a l l t y p e s of corporate data that can be displayed in a
Web browser, i n c l u d i n g M i c r o s o f t Word d o c u m e n t s , s preads heets, Microsoft
PowerPoint s l id es , a n d electronic pages of documents, and can embed email and i n s t a n t
messages. H e a v y - d u t y w i k i s are ab l e to d i r e c t l y i n t e r f a c e with corporate databases
to i m p o r t a u d i o a n d p i c t u r e files. Although users can modify wiki c o n t e n t
contributed by others, w i k i s have, some b u i l t - i n version control. No changes c a n be
made w i t h o u t recording the author of those changes a n d it is possible to r e v e r t to an
earlier version. These features of w i k i s make them especially appealing to small
bus in es s es w i t h l i m i t e d technology staffs a n d budgets, but they are also b e i n g deployed
by large e n t e r p r i s e s . F o r e x a m p l e , N o k i a h a s b e e n u s i n g S o c i a l t e x t w i k i
software to facilitate information exchange within its insite and
Foresight Group.
Social bookmarking makes it easier to search for, and also to share information by
a l l o w i n g users to save their bookmarks to Web pages on a public Web site a n d tag these
bookmarks w i t h keywords. These tags can be used to organize a n d search for the
documents, and lists of tags can be shared with other people to h e l p t h e m find information of
i n t er e s t.
Learning management systems (LMS): C o m p a n i e s need ways to keep track of a n d
manage employee l e a r n i n g and to i nt egrat e it more, f u l l y i nt o t h e i r knowledge

8. management and other corporate s y s t e m s . Learning management systems (LMS) p r o v i d e
tools for t h e management, d e l i v e r y , t r a c k i n g , a n d assessment of various types of
employee, learning and training.
Contemporary LMS supports multiple modes of learning, including CD-ROM,
downloadable videos, web-based classes, live instruction in classes or online, and group learning
in online forums and chat sessions. LMS consolidate mixed-media training, automate the
selection and administration of courses, assessable and deliver learning content, and measure
learning effectiveness. For example, the Navl Education Training Command (NETC) uses the
THINQ Training Server Learning Management System to manage electronic and instructor-led
training for 47,000 officers and enlisted people enrolled in 3,600 different courses.
4. How do DSS differ from MIS, & how do they provide value to the business?
A. Distinguish between DSS & MIS
A DSS assists management decision making by combining data, sophisticated analytical models,
and user-friendly software into a single, powerful system that can support semi-structured or
unstructured decision making. These systems help end users utilize data and models to discuss
and decide semi-structured and unstructured problems, but they do not solve the problems for the
user. Generally speaking, MIS provide routine, pre-specified, and formatted reports based on
data extracted and summarized from the firm's TPS. These reports provide information on the
firm's performance and are used to help monitor and control the business. In contrast, DSS
provide capabilities for addressing non-routine decisions and user control. DSS emphasize
change, flexibility, and rapid response and place a greater emphasis on models, assumptions, ad
hoc queries, and display graphics. Additionally, MIS primarily address structured problems,

9. while DSS focus more on supporting semi-structured and unstructured problems.
B.
1. Describe each of the four kinds of organizational change that can be promoted with
information technology.
Information technology enables automation, rationalization, reengineering, and paradigm
shifts.
Automation uses the computer to speed up the performance of existing tasks. This approach to
organizational change changes the organization less than the other three. It may release staff to
other jobs, reduce the number of employees needed, or enable the organization to process more
transactions.
Rationalization of procedures refers to the streamlining of standard operating procedures,
eliminating obvious bottlenecks, so that automation makes operating procedures more efficient.
By making such changes, it can eliminate some tasks and enable the organization to make more
changes than automation, but the organization still has not made changes in the goals or strategy
of the company.

10. Business process reengineering refers to the radical redesign of business processes, combining
steps to cut waste and eliminating repetitive, paper-intensive tasks in order to improve cost,
quality, and services, and to maximize the benefits of information technology. This is a more
powerful type of organizational change because an organization can use it to rethink and
streamline its business processes, improve speed, service, and quality.
A paradigm shift is a radical re-conceptualization of the nature of the business and the nature of
the organization. The strategy of the business can be changed, and sometimes even the business
the company is in.
What Is The Difference Between MIS And DSS?
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The terms MIS and DSS stand for Management Information Systems and Decision Support
Systems respectively. There has been a lot of talk regarding these two, whether they are actually
the same thing or if there are any significant differences between the two.
MIS is basically a kind of link to facilitate communcation between managers across different
areas in a business organization. MIS plays a pivotal role in enabling communications across the
floor of an organization, between various entities therein.
DSS, many consider, is an advancement from the original MIS. However,this is not the sole
difference between the two. While there may not be too much separating the two, the difference
is still there,as is apparent when we say DSS is an advancement over MIS.
The essential difference between the two is in focus. DSS, as the term indicates, is about
leadership and senior management in an organization providing good, reliable judgment as well
as vision. MIS, on the other hand, is about focusing on the actual flow of information itself.