MIS ( unit III,IV and V)

Model Q & Ans

1. Define and discuss the four stage model of IS planning.

A.1.

IS planning activity Description

Strategic Planning Matches the overall organizational plan with the IS plan.

Information Requirement Identifying broad, organizational information

Analysis requirements.

Resource allocation Allocating resources for IS development and operation.

Project planning Formulating a plan giving resource requirements for

specific IS projects and schedules.
 Strategic Planning:
In this planning stage, objectives, goals and strategies are compared with the objectives,
goals and strategies of the organisation. The following techniques are used:

i) Derivation from the organsiational plan

ii) The strategic information system grid

iii) Strategic fit with organsiational culture

iv) Strategy set transformation

Information Requirements Analysis:

This stage deals with the current and future needs for IS to support decision-making and
operations of the organisation. To undertake information requirement analysis, the
following steps are followed

i) Define underlying organisational requirements

ii) Develop sub-system matrix

iii) Define and evaluate information requirements for organisational sub-systems

Resource Allocation:
After identification of the need for information system applications for entire
organisation, the next phase is allocation of resources.

Project Planning:
The last stage of four-stage model of MIS planning is project planning which provides
an overall framework for system development planning, scheduling and controlling. A
wide variety of tools of project management are available, which include milestones,
critical path method (CPM) and Gantt Charts.

2. Briefly discuss “Nolan’s stage model”. give its applications

A.2. Richard Nolan (1974) has discussed a framework for IS planning, popularly known as
Nolan stage model. The basic premise of the model is that any organization will move
through stages of maturity with respect to the use and management of IS.

The Nolan stage model has identified four stages of information system growth. A brief
description of these stages is given below:

Stage 1
The First growth stage is known as initiationstage. In this stage, the technology is placed in
the organization. A few applications in the organization are computerized. There are only a
small number of users. This stage is characterized by minimum planning.

Stage 2
This growth stage is called expansion or contagion stage. During this stage rapid and
uncontrolled growth in the number and variety of IT applications takes place. Many users
adopt computers in solving their IT related problems.

Stage 3
This stage is known as formalization or controlstage because in this stage, organizations
gain control over the technology’s resources by implementing formal control processes and
standards. Thus, organizations are able to apply cost-effective criteria. However, controls
sometimes become barriers in attaining potential benefits.

Stage 4
Nolan has described this growth stage as maturity or integrationstage as by this stage
organizations gain sufficient experience and maturity in IS/IT applications. In this stage,
applications are integrated, controls are adjusted. Planning is well-established. That is why
this growth stage sometimes is also called the stage of perfection.

Nolan in 1979 enhanced this model to 6 stages. In the enhanced model, the first 3 stages
remain the same and the maturity stage of the four- stage model has been sub- divided into 3
more specific stages which have been renamed as stage 4, stage 5 and stage 6 respectively.

Stage 4 is called Integration stage, stage 5 is called administration stageand stage 6 is called
maturity stage.
3. Identify the methods used for strategic IS planning and resource allocation stage.

A.3. The following techniques are used for strategic IS planning and they are:
a) Derivation from the organizational plan
b) The strategic information system grid
c) Strategic fit with the organizational culture
d) Strategy set transformation.

Resource Allocation provides the framework for personnel planning, technology

procurement and budgeting to provide services to users. There have been a number of
methods for allocating scarce resources, some of the methods briefly discussed are as
following:

Return on investment
Charge Out
Portfolio approach
Steering committee

(Describe each one of them in atleast four lines)

4. Discuss the various alternative strategies for system acquisition. Describe which systems
acquisitions approach is appropriate for a particular set of circumstances.

A.4. Developing information systems in-house or engaging a software development

company may be the most expensive way to acquire IS. There are some other alternatives
which might be less expensive and give other benefits. There are four alternatives and they
are:

Outsourcing: It refers to hiring the services of the another organization or individual

to perform some of the work.
Software licensing : the purchaser actually purchases a license to use the software ,
not the software itself. Thus, the term licensing means purchasing a license to use.
Using the service of an application service provider: An organization that offers the
use of the software through communication lines is called an application service
provider. The concept is called software as a service.
End users development:
 When the application is simple and it is not available as a ready made package in the
market , the organization has got another alternative, known as end user application
development.

5. Discuss the pros and cons of the user application development. Take a suitable example.

A.5. when the application is simple and it is not available as a readymade package in the
market, the organization has got another alternative, known as end user application
development. In this approach, the user managers, even without any background of
programming can write their own business applications. As a simple rule, the organization
should encourage end users to develop their own applications where the application can be
used briefly and discarded. A wide spread of user developed applications pose challenges to
the organizations, both in IT units and other business units. Management has to manage the
reaction of the IT professionals , as they may react to this approach negatively. Thus the
organization must arrange training sessions for both the business managers and IT
professionals, where business managers are provided training on some technical aspects, the
IT professionals need to be sensitized to this kind of requirement in the organization.

6. Discuss the steps involved in the implementation process.

A.6. Implementation process is a process that consists of large number of steps and some of
the steps are as following:

Planning the implementation

Acquisition of facilities and space planning
MIS organization and procedure development
Acquisition of hardware and software
Coding
Testing
Creation of forms and databases
Documentation
User training
Installation

7. Explain the four different strategies when the MIS system is installed in the existing
organization.
 A.7. Installation is the event of switch over from the old system to the new system,
which takes place after the system is tested and found reliable.
When the old system is in existence, there may be four different strategies namely:
Direct approach : where the new system is installed and the old system is immediately
discontinued. The main advantage of this approach is it is relatively in expensive.
Parallel Approach : the new system is installed and operated in parallel with the current
system until it has been tested thoroughly; then the old system is phased out.
Modular Approach: the refers to the implementation of a system in the organization on a
module basis.
Phase In implementation: This method is more suitable for the systems which require
only upgradation of the old systems.

8. Describe the system development stages of an MIS.

A.8. in order to develop a system successfully , it is managed by breaking the total

development process into smaller basic activities or phases and following phases are:

Investigation: system investigation is the first step in the system development project and it is
used to define and resolve the problem in clear way.

Analysis: it is detailed study of the various operations of a business activity along with its
boundaries. The objective of this phased is to determine exactly what must be done to solve
the problem

System design: it specifies How the system will accomplish the goal of meeting the
information need of users, and it should have three activities engaged of user interface, data
design and process design.

Construction and testing:

It takes place on the basis of the system design specifications

Implementation:

The system implementation stage involves the hardware and software acquisition , site
preparation, user training and installation of the system.

9. Describe the various evaluation approaches .

A.9. Evaluation approaches are conceptually distinct ways of thinking about, designing,
and conducting evaluation efforts. Many of the evaluation approaches in use today make
unique contributions to solving important problems, while others refine existing
approaches in some way. Classification systems intended to sort out unique approaches
from variations on a theme are presented here to help identify some basic schools of
 thought for conducting an evaluation. After these approaches are identified, they are
summarized in terms of a few important attributes.

As a group, these five approaches represent a highly respected collection of disciplined

inquiry approaches. They are considered quasi-evaluation approaches because particular
studies can legitimately focus only on questions of knowledge without addressing any
questions of value. Such studies are, by definition, not evaluations. These approaches can
produce characterizations without producing appraisals, although specific studies can
produce both. Each of these approaches serves its intended purpose well. They are
discussed roughly in order of the extent to which they approach the objectivist ideal.
Experimental research is the best approach for determining causal
relationships between variables. The potential problem with using this as an evaluation
approach is that its highly controlled and stylized methodology may not be sufficiently
responsive to the dynamically changing needs of most human service programs.
Management information systems (MISs) can give detailed information about the
dynamic operations of complex programs. However, this information is restricted to
readily quantifiable data usually available at regular intervals.
Testing programs are familiar to just about anyone who has attended school, served in
the military, or worked for a large company. These programs are good at comparing
individuals or groups to selected norms in a number of subject areas or to a set of
standards of performance. However, they only focus on testee performance and they
might not adequately sample what is taught or expected.
Objectives-based approaches relate outcomes to prespecified objectives, allowing
judgments to be made about their level of attainment. Unfortunately, the objectives
are often not proven to be important or they focus on outcomes too narrow to provide
the basis for determining the value of an object.
Content analysis is a quasi-evaluation approach because content analysis judgments
need not be based on value statements. Instead, they can be based on knowledge.
Such content analyses are not evaluations. On the other hand, when content analysis
judgments are based on values, such studies are evaluations.

10. What is product- based MIS evaluation. Explain in detail.

A.10. The focus of the product based evaluation is on the product or the output from the
system, the evaluation may be termed as the effectiveness evaluation .
Some of the attributes of the product based MIS evaluation are:
Timeliness
Relevance
Accuracy
Completeness
Adequacy
 Explicitness
Exception based

11. Are