Information Systems glossary.

ü  5 S: japanese organisational method for workplace organisation. The 5 S are:

seiketsu - standardisation of the previous 3.

seiri - (sort) remove unnecessary items and dispose of them properly.

seiso - (shine_ keep workplace clean.

seiton - (systematic arrangement) Arrange all necessary items so that they can   be easily selected for use.

shitsuke - (sustain) discipline and regular audits.

ü  Artificial Intelligence – is an academic field that studies the capacity of machines and computers to exhibit intelligent behaviour where intelligent behaviour means the ability to scan one’s surroundings and make a sound decision to maximise one’s chance of success based on analysis and processing of information according to what the context requires. In business settings AI can be used to execute routines that call for low-skilled work and interprete data in ways conducive to pattern recognition, thus providing valuable insight for decision-making processes.

ü  B2B – business to business. The practice in e-commerce for two companies to conduct business between themselves. When this happens, one company plays the role of supplier while the other party plays the role of client.

ü  B2C – Business to consumer. The procurement of goods or services by a typical consumer.

ü  BSC – balanced scorecard. Is a business approach that considers other perspectives other than profits. Besides the obvious financial perspective, there is also the customer perspective where the business should think through its practices in order to better cater to its intended audience. The reflective question typically asked is “how the customer sees us”?. Internal business processes is another perspective concerned with answering the question “what must we excel at?”. Leaning and growth considers the question “how can we continue to improve and innovate?”. This perspective relates to efficacy as internal business processes relates to efficiency.

ü  Business Intelligence – is a system that is known for being dynamic and flexible, optimised to present users with information in a format that facilitates decision-making and best business practices.

ü  CMM - capability maturity model. Framework for measuring how mature a company’s processes are. The levels are:

Level 1 - Initial (Chaotic): It is characteristic of processes at this level that they are (typically) undocumented and in a state of dynamic change, tending to be driven in an ad hoc, uncontrolled and reactive manner by users or events. This provides a chaotic or unstable environment for the processes.

Level 2 – Repeatable: It is characteristic of processes at this level that some processes are repeatable, possibly with consistent results. Process discipline is unlikely to be rigorous, but where it exists it may help to ensure that existing processes are maintained during times of stress.

Level 3 – Defined: It is characteristic of processes at this level that there are sets of defined and documented standard processes established and subject to some degree of improvement over time. These standard processes are in place (i.e., they are the AS-IS processes) and used to establish consistency of process performance across the organization.

Level 4 – Managed: It is characteristic of processes at this level that, using process metrics, management can effectively control the AS-IS process (e.g., for software development ). In particular, management can identify ways to adjust and adapt the process to particular projects without measurable losses of quality or deviations from specifications. Process Capability is established from this level.

Level 5 – Optimising: It is a characteristic of processes at this level that the focus is on continually improving process performance through both incremental and innovative technological changes/improvements.

ü  Customer Relationhsip management – refers to all instances and channels of communication with the company’s client. This system’s purpose is to glean all kinds of data from the business company through a variety of means including call center, data mining, surveys, post-sales follow-up, logs on other company’s systems etc. The aim of CRM is to make customer service more effective by predicting customer’s preferences and tailoring products and service approaches to better suit said preferences.

ü  Data Cube - A data cube is a three-dimensional (3D) range of values that are generally used to describe multidimensional extensions of two-dimensional tables. It can be viewed as a collection of identical 2-D tables stacked upon one another.

ü  Data mart – is a subset of the data warehouse dedicated to a specific area within an organisation.

ü  Data mining – the extraction of data about customers’ preferences and behaviour patterns as observed on market channels such web browsing, previous transactions emailed orders etc.

ü  Data warehouse - is a system used for reporting and data analysis, gathering input from different sources.  It consists of a database, kept separate from the organisation's operational database. There is no frequent updating done in a data warehouse. And it contains consolidated historical data, which helps executives analyse the company as a whole and to organise, understand and use their data to take strategic decisions.

ü  Decision Supporting System – DSS. A computerised information system used to support decision-making in a business. A DSS enables users to sift through and analyse massive reams of data and compile information that can be used to solve problems and make better decisions. It’s often unbound to the company’s other systems and draws information from existing datasets to provide more reliable means oriented towards accurate decision-making.

ü  DIKC – data, information, knowledge and competence. The 4 basic concepts of any information system. Data is the smallest unit of meaning for a computer system. A piece of data on itself means nothing. But once it’s processed, it becomes information. Information is data with meaning in readable form for a human user. Knowledge is awareness and understanding of how information can be applied to a useful end. This often entails making a better-sounding decision or make rearrangements so processes can run with more efficiency and efficacy. Competence is mastery of knowledge in real life scenarios. It means that to possess the faculty needed to expertly use knowledge whenever the situation calls for it.

ü  e-business – the instance of making all of a company’s processes available in electronic format.

ü  e-commerce- a subset of e-business that is concerned with the actual transaction between company and consumer, resulting in the sale of a product/service to a final user.

ü  EDI - Electronic Data Interchange. The computer-to-computer exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners.

ü  Enterprise Application Integration – is the use of technologies and services across an enterprise to enable the integration of software applications and hardware systems. EAI is related to middleware technologies. It is responsible for successfully integrating all of a company’s existing systems, which may cause some problems. An SOA is a common solution to enterprise application integration challenges.

ü  Enterprise Resource Planning – A system specialised in integrating all of a company’s processes. This brings down barriers between departments and allows information to be readily available in real time for all the right users. Information that is altered causes an instant update in all related areas.  In order to accomplish this, information should come from a unique data base.

ü  Expert Systems - modelled after artificial intelligence systems, these systems are more objective as they seek to simulate the reasoning of an expert professional. This system is fed input by its users and other systems and applications, and organises information and solves problems in specialised formats, as if the analysis had been done by a proper expert.

ü  Neural network – Is the natural acquisition of knowledge on how to perform a task with more efficiency and efficacy. The same process is responsible for machine learning. As a computer program written with neural network built-in capacity, it’s optimised for analysing the best way to perform something by comparing how it was done the previous time. Each iteration improves upon the previous attempt, adding more depth to the procedures of how the job is supposed to get done using the minimal possible amount of effort.  

ü  OLAP – Online analytical processing. Query tool for generating reports at a much faster rate than OLTP. The info is read-only destined for management staff for decision-making purposes.

ü  OLTP – online transaction processing. Tool for data query that focuses on operational chores conducted on a daily basis. Data is stored in standard data sets and although it gets a lot of input as expected from regular business routines, it’s poorly conceived to generate clear reports proper for management analysis. It’s best suited for technical staff due to high detail level.

ü  Organisation and Method (O&M)- Systematic examination of an organization's structure, procedures and methods, and management and control, from the lowest (clerical or shop-floor) level to the highest (CEO, president, managing director). Its objective is to assess their comparative efficiency in achieving defined organizational aims. O&M concerns itself mainly with administrative procedures (not manufacturing operations) and employs techniques such as operations research, work-study, and systems analysis.

ü  PDCA – plan, do,check, act. Also called Demming cycle, is a cyclic approach to continuous improvement in business processes. In the plan step, methodologies should be drawn up to achieve established goals,while the do step consists of actually performing the course of action based on the previous phase. During the Check stage, the manager is supposed to carefully survey the process and trawl it for flaws and ways to make it more efficient and effective. The act stage is where the actual changes are implemented.

ü  Supply Chain Management – is system built for mapping the entirety of businesses processes from raw material production and transportation to the moment the finished good is sold to final customer.