Final Question # 5

1. Describe or define virtual office
Virtual office is a term for shared office services, which normally includes business address, mail & courier services, phone services, fax ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_office
2. Distinguish DSS from virtual office.
DSS-are a specific class of computerized information systems that supports business and organizational decision-making activities. A properly-designed DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers.While Virtual office are person who work to serve the client and give services.
3.Illustrate (give examples) how virtual office can improve company's competitive advantage and organizational performance
The workforce planning process assesses the human resources an organization will need in the future to achieve its strategic objectives. Workforce planning allows companies to direct energy and resources toward building talent pools in the departments and functions most critical to their growth.
Advanced workforce planning is crucial in regions such as Latin America, where the demand for talent chronically outstrips supply. With the talent market so tight, companies find it impossible to plug sudden staffing gaps on key projects without importing expensive expatriate workers or stealing talent from competitors.

http://www.globalautoindustry.com/article.php?id=3193&jaar=2008&maand=11&target=Latin

Finals Question# 3

Identify and describe one company that adopts an MIS. Include in your discussion, how MIS helps and supports the company, its managers and other employees, in their problem solving and decision-making.

Design tow new information systems for Healthlite Yogurt Company.
One is database processing system. The other is electronic data interchange(EDI).
Information system (IS) are costly to purchase, deploy, and maintain. Therefore,
in a world where business enterprise if operated for value maximisation according to theory of rational choice, it is natrual to suppose that MIS offers economic value and that this value overcomes the costs. As much it has rightly been an objective
...one subsistent tools to support them. One of IS is the database processing system. There are four components involved in it: User's Application Programs, The DataBase Administrator, The DataBase and Data Base Management System. This system located in the corporate headquarters and adept star network topolopy of LAN.
The other IS is the EDI in which transmit computer data from the corporate headquarter to the outlets and vice versa. The terminals in which are located in each outlet by the Healthlite Yogurt Company to each sales representative. They carry the portables with them as they cobra their territories and enable them to do their job better.

Finals Question# 4

TOPIC: THE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS (DSS)


1. Describe or define DSS.
DSS, the term refers to an interactive computerized system that gathers and presents data from a wide range of sources, typically for business purposes. DSS applications are systems and subsystems that help people make decisions based on data that is culled from a wide range of sources.
2. Distinguish DSS from MIS.
Decision Support Systems (DSS) are a specific class of computerized information system that supports business and organizational decision-making activities. A properly designed DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowledge, and/or business models to identify and solve problems and make decisions.Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present would be:Accessing all of your current information assets, including legacy and relational data sources, cubes, data warehouses, and data marts,Comparative sales figures between one week and the next,Projected revenue figures based on new product sales assumptions,The consequences of different decision alternatives, given past experience in a context that is described While (MIS) is a system or process that provides the information necessary to manage an organization effectively. MIS and the information it generates are generally considered essential components of prudent and reasonable business decisions. MIS should have a clearly defined framework of guidelines, policies or practices, standards, and procedures for the organization. These should be followed throughout theinstitution in the development, maintenance, and use of all MIS.

3.Illustrate (give examples) how dss can improve companies a competitive advantages and organizational performance.

For example: a national on-line book seller wants to begin selling its products internationally but first needs to determine if that will be a wise business decision. The vendor can use a DSS to gather information from its own resources (using a tool such as OLAP) to determine if the company has the ability or potential ability to expand its business and also from external resources, such as industry data, to determine if there is indeed a demand to meet. The DSS will collect and analyze the data and then present it in a way that can be interpreted by humans. Some decision support systems come very close to acting as artificial intelligence agents.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/decision_support_system.html

Finals Question# 2

A company may adopt specific computerized database system according to their unique needs after thorough MIS planning. However, it has to be noted that MIS if properly planned, and implemented, benefits can be immeasurable on the other hand, if this is misused, then it may mean information or financial losses and opportunity and resources wasted.

From this, answer the following.

1.0.a Research one international company from the Internet and describe their MIS strategic plan.
The Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP) is a high level, evolving plan that charts the coursefor current and future information needs of MidCentral DHB. The following pages identify the current IC&T environment, the vision for IC&T at MDHB and the building blocks required to achieve the end goal of a fully integrated IC&T system. It is aligned to the National ISSP Framework, and in this first 2003/04 year, lays a foundation from which future development and further enhancement may flow. District Health Boards are required, under the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000, to develop and implement an Information Systems Strategic Plan. This plan complies with national requirements including: E-government strategy ,The information needs set out in this document have been identified through various sources, including: MDHB District Annual Plan, MDHB District Strategic Plan and recommendations from the WAVE report. Also considered have been many internal documents and reports that have identified the need for a more comprehensive and greater access to information to improve patient care and MDHB funding allocations. Through this planning process we will prioritise these needs. The ISSP sets the goals and develops a high-level implementation strategy for a three to five year riod. The detailed implementation plan will follow as projects are approved. Accessing sufficient resources will be key to achieving the goals, as well as continually monitoring, reviewing and revising plans as necessary. MDHB’s vision for IC&T is toprovideaccess to quality information across the district in a timely manner to ensure effective and efficient health decision-making. Over the next three to five years, we will develop a comprehensive, integrated IC&T system that makes it possible to collect relevant information from various sources and report in such a way that it is timely, efficient, accurate and complete with respect to patient care, and MDHB funding allocations. The ISSP supports MDHB’s vision: “The people of our district enjoy the best poandindependence.” Aswell as our strategic directions: Strong public and primary health care services Effective early intervention and rehabilitation services Integration health and disability support services Responsive rural health services A collaborative, skilled workforce Effective and efficient healthcare service.

1.0.b Discuss too the impact of this strategic plan on the company's management,competitors, customers and the company as a whole.
Provides the intelligence behind all MIS solutions, offering tools to build advanced analytical applications based on underlying multi-dimensional technology.It provides a single enterprise-wide business intelligence platform based on MIS Application which integrates information stored in existing source systems and data warehouses across organization this brings benefits throughout the organization

2.0.a Evaluate how can this strategic plan be applied to any local company in the Philippines.
MIS planning can increase productivity,competitiveness,based on this platform, users can utilize pre-built planning and controlling applications for enterprise planning, risk management, consolidation and subsidiary management. It helps to solve the problem and seek possible solution.
2.0.b Discuss too the possible effect on the company.
This information can be rapidly retrieved and updated to assist managers in making decisions. The management information system is capable of evaluating more alternatives than manual methods, can make better and faster decisions and provides timely and accurate information for decision making. Perhaps if more companies are able to fully integrate the finance, marketing, production and personnel functions into an integrated corporate simulation model, they will be better able to determine the effects that changes in internal or external phenomenon will have on their organization.


3.0.a What is an Accounting Information System?

Accounting Information Systems (AISs) combine the study and practice of accounting with the design, implementation, and monitoring of information systems. Such systems use modern information technology resources together with traditional accounting controls and methods to provide users the financial information necessary to manage their organizations.

An accounting information system (AIS) is the system of records a business keeps to maintain its accounting system. This includes the purchase, sales, and other financial processes of the business. The purpose of an AIS is to accumulate data and provide decision makers (investors, creditors, and managers) with information to make decision While this was previously a paper-based process, most modern businesses now use accounting software such as UBS, MYOB etc. Information System personnel need knowledge of database management and programming language such as C, C++, JAVA and SQL as all software is basically built from platform or database.
3.0.b Identify or list down different accounting information systems used.
1.Financial reporting
2.Cost accounting systems
3. Management accounting systems
3.0.c What are the benefits by the management, users and customers derived from these AIS?
Kohls is a merchandise company that would use accounting information systems as the lifeline or backbone of the business, especially since accounting systems include people, records, methods, and equipment. As a former associate, I have had the ability to learn about how Kohls operates. Kohls uses source documents to include checks, packing slips, cash register receipts, and employee time cards, to name a few. Input devices used would be scanners, both at the register and radio frequency guns that maintain inventory and pricing information. Information processors are at the store level and also at the home office. Management take reports and evaluate the sales, credit card goals, and payroll. I believe most of the information storage is at the Home Office. The information obtained from the daily reports come from there, such as sales forecasts, payroll projections, etc. Output devices are located throughout the stores and the home office in the form of registers, printers, monitors, etc.

It is my opinion that the company would not be able to run efficiently without these items. They all work together to streamline the accounting process that could take an extraordinary amount of time to compile should these things not exist. The system could be challenging because most of the analysis and input relies on a human factor. Errors in reading reports or a cashier that does not properly complete a markdown on merchandise can alter the ending outcome of the reports.
3.0.d Cite any threat or misuse of these AIS by a specific company. How were the threats addressed? What were the damages?

Much of the recent design and development efforts have been directed
toward simplifying system usage as well as enhancing the variety justifyresources available to the userHowever, thesetogether with the ever increasing concentration of high-risk dataresident on computer systems, also result in greater opportunitiesfor system abuse.FAA employees or other

REPORTING LOSS, THEFT, OR DAMAGE.  Incidents of loss,              

theft, or damage to computer equipment, software, and data shall         

be reported immediately to the appropriate security element by           

the facility manager and/or other responsible personnel.                 

Reporting requirements shall be communicated to FAA personnel who        

are engaged in the operation, programming, and administration of         

FAA computer systems, related facilities, and related activities,        

to include commercial time-sharing.                                      

    a.  Suspected or Alleged Fraud or Theft.  Incidents of              

      systems misuse or abuse, or other use of AIS systems contrary to         

      law or FAA regulations, shall be reported to the security office         

      servicing the AIS facility for arranging for investigation when          

      appropriate.                                                             

    b.  Property Damage or Destruction.  Incidents of malicious         

      damage or theft of AIS equipment or records shall be reported, as        

      appropriate, to the cognizant security element for investigation         

      and, if appropriate, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation              

      (FBI).  In emergency situations where time is of the essence,            

      notification may be made to the FBI, to the building protective          

      services office, or to the law enforcement office with                   

      jurisdiction over the location, with immediate notification also         

      to the cognizant security element.                                       

    c.  Property Record Reconciliation.  Incidents of lost,             

      damaged, or destroyed computer equipment or software should be           

      reported on FAA Form 4630-8, Report of Survey, in compliance with        

      Order 4630.3B, Survey of Lost, Damaged, or Destroyed Government          

      Personal Property.  Incidents related to thefts and losses of            

      government and personal property, at Washington headquarters             

      shall be reported in accordance with Order WA 1600.2C.                   

Finals Question#1

For those who are working, interview your IT in-charge and ask him/her to describe the computer database systems used in the company. Write your answer in 1-2 paragraphs. Further, ask also the benefits and/or disadvantages derived from these database systems.

For those who are not working, research one company in the net who is using computerized database systems. Describe the use and/or nature of these systems and describe too the benefits/disadvantages from these systems. Include your reference.

Increase Market Share with Computerized Database Management Systems

A DataLeverage system uses menu choices for performing multiple commands, minimizing steps and saving your company valuable time. Intuitive data entry forms help make storing information easier and error free. In addition, our systems can generate specialized reports that are impossible to produce using a standard Access report feature.

Companies use computerized database management systems to expand productivity, client base and number of referrals.

Businesses have found that appropriate automation increases competitiveness and now include a computerized database management system in their comprehensive business plan. But, what is a computerized database management system?

Database management systems are one of the popular software available for IBM PC’s.....

In many ways, the software functions as a computerized filing cabinet. Users get the information they need by typing on the keyboard or clicking the mouse. The software also has the ability to do math and print business information.

There are two types available: off-the-shelf software or customized software.

Off-the-shelf software has already been designed for a specific business application - accounting, contact management, inventory, etc. This software can be less costly to set up and can be effective if your business needs match the functions of the package. These systems being pre-programmed, take a lot longer to learn, and certain business features may not be available.

The other option is to buy a generic database management software such as Visual Basic, FoxPro, Access and customize it for your own specific use.

The advantage of this method is that once the system is set up there is almost no learning curve and the labor time is significantly less than the off-the-shelf systems. This system matches your business needs and does exactly what you want to do.

The customized system gives advanced productivity and can be used by someone with minimal computer experience...

The following actual case histories illustrates how companies increased their business competitiveness through customized database management systems.

First, the business problems: (1) A high tech company lowers sales by spending too much time finding qualified prospects. (2) A regional telephone company wastes hours by typing billing error reports several times. (3) An alcohol rehabilitation center looses clients and referrals by not tracking patient care, thanking referral sources, and asking for patient feedback.

In each of these cases, management realized that they required a computerized database management system. The high tech company was able to pre-qualify prospects through a database marketing system. The regional telephone company increased productivity by entering billing information once, then by using a database system to generate numerous reports. The Alcohol Rehabilitation Center increased clients and referrals through a Quality Assurance Database System that tracks patient care, referral sources and client satisfaction.

Reference:

http://www.dataleverage.com/IncMkt.htm

http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:0ecZwlCwRWQJ:www.carahsoft.com/resources/Kapow/Kapow-0707_LeveragingCriticalBusinessData.pdf+what+the+benefits+and+disadvantage+of+data+leverage&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ph

Midterm Question #3

Internet if properly maximized can be used as a medium to the advantage of the company. However, risks and threats are there. Thus, research the following:

1. Identify the possible risks and threats (eg. virus) that can potentially attack a company with internet connection.

2. Case research and analysis:
2.a Identify one company that had experienced an attacked from the internet.
2.b Describe the attack.
2.c Identify the damages done and the solutions adopted to reverse the damages and to protect the company from future threats.

Answer:

Although you’ve gathered a considerable amount of data to this point, you will need to analyze this information to determine the probability of a risk occurring, what is affected, and the costs involved with each risk. Assets will have different risks associated with them, and you will need to correlate different risks with each of the assets inventoried in a company. Some risks will impact all of the assets of a company, such as the risk of a massive fire destroying a building and everything in it, while in other cases; groups of assets will be affected by specific risks.

Assets of a company will generally have multiple risks associated with them. Equipment failure, theft, or misuse can affect hardware, while viruses, upgrade problems, or bugs in the code may affect software. By looking at the weight of importance associated with each asset, you should then prioritize which assets will be analyzed first, and then determine what risks are associated with each.

Once you’ve determined what assets may be affected by different risks, you then need to determine the probability of a risk occurring. While there may be numerous threats that could affect a company, not all of them are probable. For example, a tornado is highly probable for a business located in Oklahoma City, but not highly probable in New York City. For this reason, a realistic assessment of the risks must be performed.

Historical data can provide information on how likely it is that a risk will become reality within a specific period of time. Research must be performed to determine the likelihood of risks within a locality or with certain resources. By determining the likelihood of a risk occurring within a year, you can determine what is known as the Annualized Rate of Occurrence (ARO).

Information for risk assessment can be acquired through a variety of sources. Police departments may be able to provide crime statistics on the area your facilities are located, allowing you to determine the probability of vandalism, break-ins, or dangers potentially encountered by personnel. Insurance companies will also provide information on risks faced by other companies, and the amounts paid out when these risks became reality. Other sources may include news agencies, computer incident monitoring organizations, and online resources.

Once the ARO has been calculated for a risk, you can then compare it to the monetary loss associated with an asset. This is the dollar value that represents how much money would be lost if the risk occurred. You can calculate this by looking at the cost of fixing or replacing the asset. For example, if a router failed on a network, you would need to purchase a new router, and pay to have the new one installed. In addition to this, the company would also have to pay for employees who aren’t able to perform their jobs because they can’t access the network. This means that the monetary loss would include the price of new equipment, the hourly wage of the person replacing the equipment, and the cost of employees unable to perform their work. When the dollar value of the loss is calculated, this provides total cost of the risk, or the Single Loss Expectancy (SLE).

To plan for the probable risk, you would need to budget for the possibility that the risk will happen. To do this, you need to use the ARO and the SLE to find the Annual Loss Expectancy (ALE). To illustrate how this works, let’s say that the probability of a Web server failing is 30 percent. This would be the ARO of the risk. If the e-commerce site hosted on this server generates $10,000 an hour and the site would be estimated to be down two hours while the system is repaired, then the cost of this risk is $20,000. In addition to this, there would also be the cost of replacing the server itself. If the server cost $6000, this would increase the cost to $26000. This would be the SLE of the risk. By multiplying the ARO and the SLE, you would find how much money would need to be budgeted to deal with this risk. This formula provides the ALE:

ARO x SLE = ALE

When looking at the example of the failed server hosting an e-commerce site, this means the ALE would be:

.3 x $26,000 = $7,800

To deal with the risk, you need to assess how much needs to be budgeted to deal with the probability of the event occurring. The ALE provides this information, leaving you in a better position to recover from the incident when it occurs.

Once you’ve identified the risks that can pose a probable threat to your company, and determined how much loss can be expected from an incident, you are then prepared to make decisions on how to protect your company. After performing a risk assessment, you may find a considerable number of probable threats that can affect your company. These may include intrusions, vandalism, theft, or other incidents and situations that may vary from business to business. This may make any further actions dealing with risk management seem impossible.

The first thing to realize is that there is no way to eliminate every threat that may affect your business. There is no such thing as absolute security. To make a facility absolutely secure would be excessive in price, and it would be so secure that no one would be able to enter and do any work. The goal is to manage risks, so that the problems resulting from them will be minimized.

The other important issue to remember is that some threats will be excessive in cost to prevent. For example, there are a number of threats that can impact a server. Viruses, hackers, fire, vibrations, and other risks are only a few. To protect the server, it is possible to install security software (such as anti-virus software and firewalls) and make the room fireproof, earthquake proof, and secure from any number of threats. The cost of doing so, however, will eventually become more expensive than the value of the asset. It would be wiser to back up the data, install a firewall and anti-virus software, and run the risk that other threats will not happen. The rule of thumb is to decide which risks are acceptable.

After calculating the loss that may be experienced from a threat, you will need to find cost-effective measures of protecting yourself. To do this, you will need to identify which threats will be dealt with and how. Decisions will need to be made by management as to how to proceed, based on the data you’ve collected on risks. In most cases, this will involve devising methods of protecting the asset from threats. This may involve installing security software, implementing policies and procedures, or adding additional security measures to protect the asset.

You may decide that the risks involved with an asset are too high, and the costs to protect it are too high, as well. In such cases, the asset should be moved to another location, or eliminated completely. For example, if there is a concern about a Web server affected by vibrations from earthquakes in California, then moving the Web server to the branch office in New York nullifies the threat. By removing the asset, you subsequently eliminate the threat of it being damaged or destroyed.

Another option is to transfer the potential loss associated with a threat to another party. Insurance policies can be taken out insuring the asset, so that if any loss occurs the company can be reimbursed through the policy. Leasing equipment or services through another company can also transfer the risk. If a problem occurs, the leasing company will be responsible for fixing or replacing the assets involved.

Finally, the other option is to do nothing about the potential threat, and live with the consequences (if they occur). This happens more often than you’d expect, especially when you consider that security is a tradeoff. For every security measure put in place, it makes it more difficult to access resources and requires more steps for people to do their jobs. A company may have broadband Internet connectivity through a T1 line for employees working from computers inside the company, and live with the risk that they may download malicious programs. While this is only one possible situation where a company will live with a potential threat (and gamble that it stays “potential” only), it does show that in some situations, it is preferable to have the threat rather than to lose a particular service.

Suddenly your Web server becomes unavailable. When you investigate, you realize that a flood of packets is surging into your network. You have just become one of the hundreds of thousands of victims of a denial-of-service attack, a pervasive and growing threat to the Internet. What do you do?

Internet Denial of Service sheds light on a complex and fascinating form of computer attack that impacts the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of millions of computers worldwide. It tells the network administrator, corporate CTO, incident responder, and student how DDoS attacks are prepared and executed, how to think about DDoS, and how to arrange computer and network defenses. It also provides a suite of actions that can be taken before, during, and after an attack.

I. SECURITY SOLUTIONS.

1. Securing Windows Server.

Improved Default Security in Windows. Securing the Hatches. Know Who Is Connected Using Two-factor Authentication. Using Templates to Improve Usage and Management. Patrolling the Configuration. Securing the File System. Securing Web Services. Keeping Files Confidential with EFS. Bulletproof Scenario. Summary.

2. Implementing Secured Wireless Technologies.

Working Through Walls. Managing Spectrums to Avoid Denial of Service. Implementing Support for Secure 802.1x Technologies. Taking Advantage of Windows Server 2003 Security Features. Configuring the Wireless Client. Maximizing Wireless Security through Tunneling. Maintaining Knowledge of Your Wireless Networks. Summary.

3. Integrating Smartcard and Secured Access Technologies.

Maximizing Certificate Services Implementations. Securing Certificate Services. Getting the Most Out of Smartcards. Tips and Tricks for Securing Access to the Network. Creating a Single Sign-on Environment. Securing Access to Web Servers and Services. Protecting Certificate-based Services from Disaster. Integrating Smartcards with Personal Devices. Summary.

II. MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION SOLUTIONS.

4. Distributing Administration.

Choosing the Best Administrative Model for Your Organization. Using Role-based Administration for Optimal Delegation. Leveraging the Delegation of Control Wizard. Enhancing Administration with Functional Levels. Managing Domain and Enterprise Administration. Developing Group Policies that Affect Administration. Testing Level of Administrative Access. Auditing Administrative Activities. Summary.

5. Managing User Rights and Permissions.

Leveraging Domain Local, Global, and Universal Groups. Using NTFS and AD Integrated File Shares. Using Group Policy to Administer Rights and Permissions. Maximizing Security, Functionality, and Lowering Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) with User Profiles. Managing Rights and Permissions for Specific User Types. Summary.

6. Implementing Group Policies.

Leveraging Group Policies. Group Policy Deployment. Understanding GP Inheritance and Application Order. Understanding the Effects of Slow Links on Group Policy. Using Tools to Make Things Go Faster. Automating Software Installations. Enhancing Manageability with Group Policy Management Console. Using Resultant Set of Policies in GPMC. Maximizing Security with Group Policy. Increasing Fault Tolerance with Intellimirror. Leveraging Other Useful Tools for Managing Group Policies. Using Administrative Templates. Finding Additional Resources about Group Policy. Summary.

7. Managing Desktops.

Automating Backup of Desktop Data. Accelerating Deployments with Workstation Images. Creating Windows XP Images. Automating Software Installation. Slow Link Detection. Ensuring a Secured Managed Configuration. Managing Systems and Configurations. Leveraging Useful Tools for Managing Desktops. Summary.

8. Administering Windows Server 2003 Remotely.

Using Remote Desktop for Administration. Taking Advantage of Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools. Using Out-Of-Band Remote Administration Tools for Emergency Administration. Using and Configuring Remote Assistance. Securing and Monitoring Remote Administration. Delegating Remote Administration. Administering IIS in Windows Server 2003 Remotely. Summary.

9. Maintenance Practices and Procedures.

Maintenance Is Not As Interesting as Implementing New Technology. What to Do Every Day. What to Do Every Week. What to Do Every Month. Consolidating Servers as a Maintenance Task. Backup Tips and Tricks. Making Automated System Recovery Work for You. Leveraging Scripting for Maintenance Practices. Why Five-9s Might Be a Bad Idea. Automating Updates. Summary.

III. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION SOLUTIONS.

10. Advanced Active Directory Design.

Implementations Small and Large. Configuring and Reconfiguring Domains and Organizational Units. Sites and the New Knowledge Consistency Checker. Using Cross-Forest Trusts Effectively. Interforest Synchronization. Active Directory Migration Tool Best Practices. Using Microsoft Metadirectory Services Effectively. Domain Controller Placement. Global Catalog Placement. Taking Advantage of Replication Improvements. Active Directory Functional Levels. Summary.

11. Implementing Microsoft Windows Server.

Best Practices for Successful Server Deployments. Licensing and Activating Windows Server. Automating Deployment with Remote Installation Service. Using Sysprep for Servers to Maximize Consistency. Customizing Setup Using Unattend and Setup Manager. Creating Custom Bootable CDs for Rapid Deployment. Optimizing Standard Server Configurations. Customizing Servers with Setup Wizards. Controlling the Back-end with the Windows Registry. Summary.

12. Implementing Microsoft Active Directory.

Taking Advantage of Functional Levels. Improving Domain Controller Installation. Getting the Most Out of Global Catalog Servers. Maximizing Flexible Single Master Operation (FSMO) Roles. Expanding the Enterprise by Interconnecting Forests and Domains. Enhancing Flexibility with Renaming Domains. Managing the Active Directory Schema. Improving Replication—with Application Partitions. Summary.

13. Establishing a Solid Infrastructure Foundation.

Focusing on the Windows Server 2003 Infrastructure Components. DNS in an Active Directory Environment. The Domain Name System (DNS) In Depth. Installing DNS Using the Configure Your Server Wizard. Configuring DNS to Point to Itself. Using Resource Records in a Windows 2003 Environment. Establishing and Implementing DNS Zones. Creating Zone Transfers in DNS. Understanding the Importance of DNS Queries. Other DNS Components. DNS Maintenance, Updates, and Scavenging. Troubleshooting DNS. The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) In Depth. DHCP Changes in Windows Server. Installing DHCP and Creating New Scopes. Creating DHCP Redundancy. Advanced DHCP Concepts. Optimizing DHCP through Proper Maintenance. Securing a DHCP Implementation. Continuing Usage of Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS). Installing and Configuring WINS. WINS Planning, Migrating, and Maintenance. Global Catalog Domain Controllers (GC/DCs) Placement. The Need to Strategically Place GCs and DCs. Summary.

IV. MIGRATION AND INTEGRATION SOLUTIONS.

14. Migrating from Windows NT 4.0

Migrating to a Scalable Windows 2003 Server Environment. Fallback Plans and Failover Procedures. Tips to Minimize Network Downtime. Planning and Implementing Name Resolution When Migrating. Planning and Upgrading File Systems and Disk Partitions. Avoiding Failures and Disruptions During Server Upgrades. Keeping Windows Servers Current with Windows Updates. Finalizing Server Upgrades with Windows Update. Supporting Windows Clients During Coexistence. Implementing and Securing Password Migrations. Addressing Permissions Issues When Migrating Desktops. Best Practices for Maintaining and Managing Coexistence. Common Mistakes When Decommissioning Domains and Servers. Summary.

15. Migrating from Windows.

Preparing the Migration. Windows Server 2003 Applications Compatibility. Using the Application Compatibility Tool Kit. Upgrading and Installing Windows Server. Migrating Network Services. Migrating Active Directory Objects. FailOver Best Practices. Supporting Clients with Windows Server. Decommissioning Windows. Raising Windows 2003 Functional Levels. Summary.

16. Integration with Unix/LDAP-Based Systems.

Designing and Planning Platform Integration. Creating an Integrated Infrastructure. Integrating Directories Across Environments. Using Password Synchronization. Centralizing the Management of Cross-Platform Resources. Accessing Unix from a Windows Perspective. Accessing Windows from a Unix Perspective. Migrating Resources from One Platform to the Other. Summary.

17. Integrating Windows 2003 with Novell Networks.

Leveraging Services for NetWare. Creative Ways of Bridging the Gap Between Novell and Windows. Installing the Microsoft Services for NetWare Tool. Creating a Single Sign-on Environment. Synchronizing eDirectory/NDS with Active Directory. Replacing NetWare Servers with Windows Servers. Summary.

V. REMOTE AND MOBILE USER SOLUTIONS.

18. VPN and Dial-up Solutions.

Choosing the Right VPN Solution. Best Practices for Securing L2TP. Best Practices for Securing PPTP. Taking Advantage of Internet Authentication Service. Using VPN for Wireless. Deploying VPN and Dial-up Services. Using Site-to-Site VPNs. Using Load Balancing to Add Scalability and Resiliency. Summary.

19. Web Access to Windows Server 2003 Resources.

Best Practices for Publishing Web Shares to the Internet. Securing Access to Resources with SSL. Enabling SSL on a Web Server Directory. Enabling and Securing Internet Printing. Best Practices for Securing FTP Services. Accessing Resources with Terminal Services and Remote Desktops. Monitoring IIS Access Through Auditing and Logging. Using Windows Tools and Scripts to Manage IIS. Summary.

20. Advanced Active Directory Design.

Advantages of Using Terminal Services. Keeping Users Connected with Session Directory. Adding Redundancy to Session Directory. Optimizing Terminal Service Performance. Managing Terminal Service Users with Group Policy. Keeping Terminal Service Secure. Leveraging Local Resources. Summary.

VI. BUSINESS CONTINUITY SOLUTIONS.

21. Proactive Monitoring and Alerting.

Leveraging Windows Management Instrumentation. Leveraging Scripts for Improved System Management. Deciding What to Monitor. Determining What to Monitor and Alert Upon. Responding to Problems Automatically. Using Microsoft Operations Manager for Advanced Automation. Summary.

22. Creating a Fault-Tolerant Environment.

Optimizing Disk Management for Fault Tolerance. Maximizing Redundancy and Flexibility with Distributed File System. Simplifying Fault Tolerance with Volume Shadow Copy. Optimizing Disk Utilization with Remote Storage. Optimizing Clusters to Simplify Administrative Overhead. Leveraging Network Load Balancing for Improved Availability. Realizing Rapid Recovery Using Automated System Recovery (ASR). Summary.

VII. PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION SOLUTIONS.

23. Tuning and Optimization Techniques.

Understanding of Capacity Analysis. Best Practice for Establishing Policy and Metric Baselines. Leveraging Capacity-Analysis Tools. Identifying and Analyzing Core Analysis and Monitoring Elements. Optimizing Performance by Server Roles. Summary.

24. Scaling Up and Scaling Out Strategies.

Size Does Matter. Building Bigger Servers. Building Server Farms. Avoiding the Pitfalls. Making It Perform. Scaling the Active Directory. Scaling for the File System. Scaling for RAS. Scaling Web Services. Scaling for Terminal Services. Summary.

25. Utilizing Storage Area Networks.

Defining the Technologies. When Is the Right Time to Implement NAS and SAN Devices? Designing the Right Data Storage Structure. Adding in Fault Tolerance for External Storage Systems. Combining Hardware Fault Tolerance with Windows Server 2003 Technologies. Best Practices for SAN and NAS. Recovering from a System Failure. Leveraging NAS and SAN Solutions for Server Consolidation. Summary.

VIII. BUSINESS PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS.

26. User File Management and Information Look-up.

Enabling Collaboration with Windows SharePoint Services. Expanding on the File and Data Management Capabilities of Windows. Simplifying File Sharing with Office. Improving Data Lookup with Indexing. Taking Advantage of Revision Control Management. Implementing Information, Communication, and Collaboration Security. Summary

The goal of a DoS attack is to disrupt some legitimate activity, such as browsing Web pages, listening to an online radio, transferring money from your bank account, or even docking ships communicating with a naval port. This denial-of-service effect is achieved by sending messages to the target that interfere with its operation, and make it hang, crash, reboot, or do useless work.

One way to interfere with a legitimate operation is to exploit a vulnerability present on the target machine or inside the target application. The attacker sends a few messages crafted in a specific manner that take advantage of the given vulnerability. Another way is to send a vast number of messages that consume some key resource at the target such as bandwidth, CPU time, memory, etc. The target application, machine, or network spends all of its critical resources on handling the attack traffic and cannot attend to its legitimate clients.

Of course, to generate such a vast number of messages the attacker must control a very powerful machine--with a sufficiently fast processor and a lot of available network bandwidth. For the attack to be successful, it has to overload the target's resources. This means that an attacker's machine must be able to generate more traffic than a target, or its network infrastructure, can handle.

Now let us assume that an attacker would like to launch a DoS attack on example.com by bombarding it with numerous messages. Also assuming that example.com has abundant resources, it is then difficult for the attacker to generate a sufficient number of messages from a single machine to overload those resources. However, suppose he gains control over 100,000 machines and engages them in generating messages to example.com simultaneously. Each of the attacking machines now may be only moderately provisioned (e.g., have a slow processor and be on a modem link) but together they form a formidable attack network and, with proper use, will be able to overload a well-provisioned victim. This is a distributed denial-of-service--DDoS.

Both DoS and DDoS are a huge threat to the operation of Internet sites, but the DDoS problem is more complex and harder to solve. First, it uses a very large number of machines. This yields a powerful weapon. Any target, regardless of how well provisioned it is, can be taken offline. Gathering and engaging a large army of machines has become trivially simple, because many automated tools for DDoS can be found on hacker Web pages and in chat rooms. Such tools do not require sophistication to be used and can inflict very effective damage. A large number of machines gives another advantage to an attacker. Even if the target were able to identify attacking machines (and there are effective ways of hiding this information), what action can be taken against a network of 100,000 hosts? The second characteristic of some DDoS attacks that increases their complexity is the use of seemingly legitimate traffic. Resources are consumed by a large number of legitimate-looking messages; when comparing the attack message with a legitimate one, there are frequently no telltale features to distinguish them. Since the attack misuses a legitimate activity, it is extremely hard to respond to the attack without also disturbing this legitimate activity.

Take a tangible example from the real world. (While not a perfect analogy to Internet DDoS, it does share some important characteristics that might help you understand why DDoS attacks are hard to handle.) Imagine that you are an important politician and that a group of people that oppose your views recruit all their friends and relatives around the world to send you hate letters. Soon you will be getting so many letters each day that your mailbox will overflow and some letters will be dropped in the street and blown away. If your supporters send you donations through the mail, their letters will either be lost or stuffed in the mailbox among the copious hate mail. To find these donations, you will have to open and sort all the mail received, wasting lots of time. If the mail you receive daily is greater than what you can process during one day, some letters will be lost or ignored. Presumably, hate letters are much more numerous than those carrying donations, so unless you can quickly and surely tell which envelopes contain donations and which contain hate mail, you stand a good chance of losing most of the donations. Your opponents have just performed a real-world distributed denial of service attack on you, depriving you of support that may be crucial to your campaign.

What could you do to defend yourself? Well, you could buy a bigger mailbox, but your opponents can simply increase the number of letters they send, or recruit more helpers. You must still identify the donations in the even larger pool of letters. You could hire more people to go through letters--a costly solution since you have to pay them from diminishing donations. If your opponents can recruit more helpers for free, they can make your processing costs as high as they like. You could also try to make the job of processing mail easier by asking your supporters to use specially colored envelopes. Your processing staff can then simply discard all envelopes that are not of the specified color, without opening them. Of course, as soon as your opponents learn of this tactic they will purchase the same colored envelopes and you are back where you started. You could try to contact post offices around the country asking them to keep an eye on people sending loads of letters to you. This will only work if your opponents are not widely spread and must therefore send many letters each day from the same post office. Further, it depends on cooperation that post offices may be unwilling or unable to provide. Their job is delivering letters, not monitoring or filtering out letters people do not want to get. If many of those sending hate mail (and some sending donations) are in different countries, your chances of getting post office cooperation are even smaller. You could also try to use the postmark on the letters to track where they were sent from, then pay special attention to post offices that your supporters use or to post offices that handle suspiciously large amounts of your mail. This means that you will have to keep a list of all postmarks you have seen and classify each letter according to its postmark, to look for anomalous amounts of mail carrying a certain postmark. If your opponents are numerous and well spread all over the world this tactic will fail. Further, postmarks are fairly nonspecific locators, so you are likely to lose some donations while discarding the hate letters coming to you from a specific postmark.

As stated before, the analogy is not perfect, but there are important similarities. In particular, solutions similar to those above, as well as numerous other approaches specific to the Internet world, have been proposed to deal with DDoS. Like the solutions listed above that try to solve the postal problem, the Internet DDoS solutions often have limitations or do not work well in the real world. This book will survey those approaches, presenting their good and bad sides, and provide pointers for further reference. It will also talk about ways to secure and strengthen your network so it cannot be easily taken offline, steps to take once you are under attack (or an unwitting source of the attack), and what law enforcement can do to help you with a DDoS problem.

Midterm Question # 2

1.Research Philippine company and 1 international company that have employed e-commerce.

Answer:

Philippine Company
- PACIFIC CYBER VENTURES.INC

InternationalCompany
-Coalengine Enterprise

2.Describe how e-commerce operate in these companies.

Answer:

Pacific Cyber Ventures Incorporated (PCV Incorporated) is a company specializing in Internet
presence and software development.
Services offered are Website Development, Web
Hosting, Domain Name Registration, Search Engine Submission and Software Development.
Founded in 2001 by a small team of highly-competitive programmers and graphic experts with
the aim of providing low-cost, globally-competitive e-commerce solutions, the company
started serving small to medium-scale businesses in the locality for the next two years.
The year 2003 marked the company’s most significant turnkey point so far since its initial
operation.
With the introduction of Open Source technologies by Redhat Linux, Apache
Servers, MySQL data technology and PHP in its operation, PCVI gained tremendous head over
its competitors. This move enabled the company to take advantage of the most advance
server technology available at the time while minimizing its operational cost. PCVI was then
and until now the only company who opened its door of opportunities for everyone to take
advantage of web presence, offering the lowest-priced web hosting packages for as low as $1
per month.
To date, PCV Incorporated has not only expanded in its number of employees but in its scope
of operations, establishing a solid ground in its field thereby becoming one of the leading
companies in web development and site hosting today.
Our Resources
PCV Incorporated is backed up by the latest cutting-edge web technology available today.
Among these are Redhat Linux 9 server, Apache II HTTP Server, MySQL 4.0 and PHP 5. All
servers are maintained by key technical experts in the USA to ensure consistent 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week server uptime.
Our Mission
“To enable local businesses maximize the benefits of their Internet presence.”

International Company

A CMS makes everything more manageable!

But one of the most significant ways a CMS might help you and your website is to make it possible for you to quickly and easily add new content to your site, or manage the existing content on your site. Too often we see business owners pay developers for a fancy site and then when the time comes to make simple changes, add pages, delete pages, edit content, etc - they can’t do it with ease. Usually they end up paying developers or programmers by the hour (and have to wait) in order to make minor changes. A CMS will put the power of managing your website back into your hands - and our proprietary Content Management System, CoalEngine® does this without you ever having to learn a single line of code. Pretty neat, huh?

Search Engine Friendly CMS

Even more than just managing your content, CoalEngine® is a CMS that is specifically designed to be search engine friendly with the use of editable meta tags, content and by creating search engine friendly URLs and the leanest code possible. After all, having a nice site and managing your site easily is great, but being able to rank well and earn new business really is the icing on the cake.

A CMS Lets You Manage Site Anywhere

Because our Content Management System is a web based application it runs directly in your web browser - what that means is that you have the power to manage your site from anywhere, and at any time as long as you have internet access. Flight delayed? No worries, go ahead and spruce up your site in your spare time. With CoalEngine® you can!

A CMS Takes Care Of The Little Stuff

Our CMS also runs of templated content based on templates and designs that you approve. This means that while you are busy pouring your creativity into creating or managing content, you don’t have to worry about placement, font size, font color, etc. We will have added all of these details to your system for you so that no matter what you create it fits in with your approved design and your brand management is handled in a flash. Consistency really is a beautiful thing.

CMS And Content Automation

Since there are many sections of your website that are referenced in multiple places, such as menus and lists - these will update automatically when you add new content so you don’t have to worry about keeping tabs on these areas. You can control the footer on every single page with just one command in the page template. And its okay to be fickle - if you want to remove content so it doesn’t display on your website you can without completely deleting the file (just in case you change your mind tomorrow and want it back!).

CMS And Expandable Functionality

Because our Content Management System, CoalEngine®, is built on a totally scalable foundation your CMS can grow to fit whatever needs arise. We have extensions available to supper E-Commerce, Blogging, email newsletters and more. All of the extensions, for all three versions of CoalEngine® are completely customizable to suit your individual needs.

Interested in a CMS, and want to learn more about CoalEngine? Contact us to learn more or read more about what makes our CMS different.

3. Idenify the benefits/constraints/derived by these companies from e-commerce.

Answer:

Benefits of E-commerce:

1.Reduce administrarive costs associated with trading transaction.(trading transactions cost)
2.Improve supply chain logistics (hold lest stockbut ensure greater reliabilty of supplier.)
3.Meet trading partners requirements for electronic trade.
4.Differentiate products from services
5.Remove supply chain intermediaries, such as brokers and sellers.
6.Provide a new marketing and delivery channel.

Midterm Question #1

MNC's are complex organizations however, they dominate the worldwide market. Knowing the background and nature of MNC's, answer the following:

1. Identify the benefits and disadvantages of MNC's.

Answer:

There are various advantages and the disadvantageos the multinational companies the host country. The main advantages are
as fallows
1.They are the source of income for the state government as it collects lots of the tax from them.

2.The seccand advantage is that it peovides enployement uppertunties to the local people and living standard of the people will increase.

3.It also trains the local people and the skill, effency, confidence of the local people will increase resulting the increase in the skilled manpower for the country.

4. Local people can use the goods of the international standard in the cheap price.

5. There will be the utilization of the local resources.

6. The ruputation of the country's product will increase in the international market.

There are certain disadvantages of the multinational companies t o the host country. Which are stated below.

1. there may be the over exploitation of the resources(natural.human)
2. There may be the collapsing in the national companies due to the over influence if the multinaitoal companies.
3 These companies may influence in the internal affaiers of the country if the government policy is poor, so as to increase their monopoly.

2. Identify one MNC company and describe its operation.

Answer:

The Company Intelligence Service includes multinational company profiles and site networks; competitive intelligence covering sales volume, employee size, market share, ownership structure, foreign direct investment and project activity, and analysis of latest company developments. The service can be customised according to your geographic or sectoral requirements, and can be taken in conjunction with your choice of the Industry Services (see industry links to the left).

The Company Intelligence Service is used by business development teams, and by corporate analysts and strategists for benchmarking and competitive analysis. The end-user relies on data accuracy, which is why company profiles are systematically researched each year at source, by a combination of web, email and telephone validation. In addition, company updates and new company profiles and executive appointments are added to the database daily through continuous desk research.

3. Describe how the parent control/coordinates with its subsidiaries in other countries or region.

Answer:

A transnational, or multinational, corporation has its headquarters in one country and operates wholly or partially owned subsidiaries in one or more other countries. The subsidiaries report to the central headquarters. The growth in the number and size of transnational corporations since the 1950s has generated controversy because of their economic and political power and the mobility and complexity of their operations. Some critics argue that transnational corporations exhibit no loyalty to the countries in which they are incorporated but act solely in their own best interests.

U.S. corporations have various motives for establishing a corporate presence in other countries. One possible motive is a desire for growth. A corporation may have reached a plateau meeting domestic demands and anticipate little additional growth. A new foreign market might provide opportunities for new growth.

4. How is IT maximized or used by this MNC?

Answer:

Another concern with transnational corporations is their ability to use foreign subsidiaries to minimize their tax liability. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) must analyze the movement of goods and services between a transnational company's domestic and foreign operations and then assess whether the transfer price that was assigned on paper to each transaction was fair. IRS studies indicate that U.S. transnational corporations have an incentive to set their transfer prices so as to shift income away from the United States and its higher corporate tax rates and to shift deductible expenses into the United States. Foreign-owned corporations doing business in the United States have a similar incentive. Critics argue that these tax incentives also motivate U.S. transnational corporations to move plants and jobs overseas

5. WHat were the weaknesses/problems encountered by this MNC from its environment and global setup?

Cite your reference

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/international-business/multinational-companies-88808.html

Prelims Question # 4

Ethics is relevant regardless of the type of organization and style of management. It is by this ethics that legal and moral laws are established. IT is not at all excluded from this.

Answer then the following.

1. List down the ethics for computer usage.
http://www.purchase.edu/departments/cts/computerethicsandusage.aspx
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/policy/ethics.html

This policy is also known as the "Computer Usage Policy."

Everyone within the University of Virginia community who uses University computing and communications facilities has the responsibility to use them in an ethical, professional and legal manner. This means that users agree to abide by the following conditions:

• The integrity of the systems must be respected. This means that users of systems will not divulge passwords, pins, private keys or similar elements to anyone else, and they will not exploit sessions left open or otherwise misappropriate or steal the "identity" of another user.
• Privacy of other users must not be intruded upon at any time.
• Users must recognize that certain data are confidential and must limit their access to such data to uses in direct performance of their duties.
• The rules and regulations governing the use of facilities and equipment must be respected. Persons responsible for computing devices connected to the network will ensure that those devices are maintained in a secure state in accord with related policy.
• No one shall obtain unauthorized access to other users' accounts and files.
• The intended use of all accounts, typically for university research, instruction and administrative purposes, must be respected.
• Users shall become familiar with and abide by the guidelines for appropriate usage for the systems and networks that they access.

2. What common forms of ethic violations happen in the internet and in the organization?

Internet

1.Deceiving a machine (i.e: mimicking, imitating or attempting to use an ID other than your own)
2.Computer trespass. This includes remote systems as well as secured areas of this system
3.Modification or destruction of programs or data other than your own personal files
4.Unauthorized access or attempted unauthorized access to a computer or network


3. How does ethics affect the decision making of managers?

Organizational leaders such as manager are under the spotlight, because employees are always watching supervisors and managers. Being a role model for employees may seem old fashioned, but employees are looking to supervisors for leadership. Therefore, supervisors have a tremendous influence upon employee conduct. If supervisors or managers have high ethical standards, employees will emulate the same.

4. Cite a company which experienced legal or social conflicts because of its violation of ethics. You may check as example the problem of pre-need insurance companies in the Philippines.

a. Describe briefly the nature of the problem.
b. How was this resolved?
c. Who were affected?
d. What were the damages?

The Prudential Life Inc. The global economic crisis has affected a number of industries worldwide including the Philippine pre-need industry. The trust funds of the industry have not been earning their projected returns. The local stock market and fixed income investments have performed poorly last year causing trust fund deficits.

Compounding the problem of the industry is the ongoing investigation of the Legacy fraud case. This has dragged down the confidence in our industry whose image has already been tarnished when major preneed firms went down years ago.

To address the situation, the Philippine Federation of Pre-Need Plan Companies, Inc. (PFPPCI) was left with three options to consider for its members:

Through the years, preneed products became mainstream investment instruments and have become part of the psyche of Filipinos. With very good branding and marketing endeavors by preneed companies, most Pinoys would dream of having a preneed educational plan for their children.

Cite your reference.

Prelims Question # 3

A company has basically four (4) levels of organizational hierarchy and each level makes use of unique IT technology and software to address and/or support their works.

Answer then the following:

1. Identify and describe information systems (IS) used in each level.

Information Systems or Information Services. For many companies, IS is the name of the department responsible for computers, networking and data management. Other companies refer to the department as IT (Information Technology) and MIS (Management Information Services).

Information systems support different types of decisions at different levels of the organizational hierarchy. Major types of Information systems include structural databases and information management software that can include the following;

• Transaction Process Systems (TPS)
• Enterprise Collaboration Systems (ECS)
• Management Information Systems (MIS)
• Decision Support Systems (DSS)
• Executive Support Systems (ESS)

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/IS.html
2. How do these IS help the employees and managers achieve their objectives.
Effective planning using the approach of MBO depends upon every manager having very clearly defined objectives for his function in the company. These objectives must also be part of the contribution to other objectives of the company. If objectives are set which do not require any assistance from managers, there is much less chance of them being affected. Peter Drucker goes a stage further by suggesting that managers at every level should participate in devising objectives for the next higher level of management. The important thing is to ensure that the individual’s objectives are related to the common goal.

Douglas McGregor stresses the value of MBO, especially the aspect of performance appraisal. McGregor’s approach suggests that we look at two sets of assumptions about individuals and their reaction to work. Theory X assumes that people work to survive and need therefore a strict, authoritarian approach to dealing with subordinates. Theory Y assumes people do not dislike work, and derive satisfaction from it. The manager’s task under the assumptions of theory Y is to help subordinates to achieve their fullest capabilities and not to control them. It is these assumptions which are the basis of the MBO system.
The stages in management by objectives are:
•the desired results (objectives) set by management are clarified and defined;
•performance standards are set, which must of course not conflict with the main objectives of the business;
•the organization structure must be provided, within which the manager has the maximum freedom and flexibility to perform;
•control information must be supplied at suitable times so the manager can take corrective action quickly;
•appraisal of performance identifies areas where a manager needs help and provision with guidance;
•employees are motivated by relating results achieved to rewards and promotion opportunities.

Others points to note are that each functional objective and target is tied to the overall objectives. It may mean reorganization is needed as quite often many organization schemes are either very elementary and leave out vital functions, or so complicated that they are very difficult to understand.

Another important point is that new techniques are no better than the people who use them and proper attention must therefore be given to the training and development of management at all levels. Also, advanced methods of performance appraisal are needed to identify areas where managers need help and guidance.

Participation in the setting of objectives can vary widely. Subordinates may only be involved by being present when being told what management has decided. Or, they may set the objectives and decide the methods by which they are to be achieved. In practice, methods adopted lie between these two extremes and the greater the participation of both managers and subordinates in the setting of objectives, the more likely they are to be achieved.

To implement an effective MBO program, it needs complete support throughout the organization as well as time and effort. It can be a highly motivating exercise as it enables both managers and subordinates to see their role more clearly.

Research has shown that participation of employees will lead to greater employee acceptance of performance goals and management decisions and improvements in communication and understanding, among both managers and their subordinates.


http://www.en.articlesgratuits.com/management-by-objectives-mbo-id1443.php
3. Cite a local or national company that makes use of these IS and identify the benefits and drawbacks/lapses of these IS.
Kreg Information Systems is a proven leader in healthcare decision support systems. These systems provide today's healthcare professionals with solutions to a variety of strategic and operational problems brought about by the nature of healthcare today. Kreg's enterprise-wide systems produce accurate, timely, and cost effective results, year in and year out, for hundreds of healthcare organizations across the country.

Kreg Information Systems deploys an innovative technology that produces the fastest return on investment in the industry. Kreg backs its systems with a world-class team of experienced professionals who deliver today the solutions for tomorrow's problems. Clients choose from either running a turnkey system, or outsource the service by having Kreg run the systems and produce monthly information packages for them, with little or no effort required by the client. That way, the client can focus on making decisions from the data, not on making decisions about how to process the data.

Kreg's Enterprise-Wide Decision Support Systems address a variety of critical financial and strategic planning functions. The systems include: Contract Management, Cost Accounting, Product-Line Management, and Budgeting/Reporting. EnterpriseVision, Kreg's executive information system, distributes both Kreg and legacy system information throughout the enterprise using internet technology. EnterpriseVision was a VHA National Operational Performance and Service Award finalist.

Over 250 healthcare organizations use our products and services. Kreg serves hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, physician offices, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and other healthcare organizations. Kreg guarantees rapid deployment of its solutions, and can have the entire enterprise up and running in months-not years like other vendors.

Our clients are as large as 1000 beds, and as small as 25 beds. They range from sole community providers, physicians and nursing home organizations, to urban multi-organizational enterprises spread across several states.

Many of our clients came to Kreg because they were frustrated by the lack of organization and professionalism brought on by depending solely on spreadsheets for data analysis. Other clients have used a variety of vendors' systems including: McKesson, Meditech, Siemens, CPSI, MedAssests, Premier, Quadramed, Imacs, Preferred Medical and others. These clients now use Kreg software not only because of its cost effective price, but because of its power, performance, and easy interface capabilities.

http://www.kreg.com/about.aspx

Prelims Question 2

An organization may adopt a closed-system or open-system model. Answer the following:

1. Discuss the pro's and con's of each model.

A system is commonly defined as a group of interacting units or elements that have a common purpose. The units or elements of a system can be cogs, wires, people, computers, and so on. Systems are generally classified as open systems and closed systems and they can take the form of mechanical, biological, or social systems. Open systems refer to systems that interact with other systems or the outside environment, whereas closed systems refer to systems having relatively little interaction with other systems or the outside environment. For example, living organisms are considered open systems because they take in substances from their environment such as food and air and return other substances to their environment. Humans, for example, inhale oxygen out of the environment and exhale carbon dioxide into the environment. Similarly, some organizations consume raw materials in the production of products and emit finished goods and pollution as a result. In contrast, a watch is an example of a closed system in that it is a relatively self-contained, self-maintaining unit that has little interacts or exchange with its environment.

All systems have boundaries, a fact that is immediately apparent in mechanical systems such as the watch, but much less apparent in social systems such as organizations. The boundaries of open systems, because they interact with other systems or environments, are more flexible than those of closed systems, which are rigid and largely impenetrable. A closed-system perspective views organizations as relatively independent of environmental influences. The closed-system approach conceives of the organization as a system of management, technology, personnel, equipment, and materials, but tends to exclude competitors, suppliers, distributors, and governmental regulators. This approach allows managers and organizational theorists to analyze problems by examining the internal structure of a business with little consideration of the external environment. The closed-system perspective basically views an organization much as a thermostat; limited environmental input outside of changes in temperature is required for effective operation. Once set, thermostats require little maintenance in their ongoing, self-reinforcing function. While the closed-system perspective was dominant through the 1960s, organization scholarship and research subsequently emphasized the role of the environment. Up through the 1960s, it was not that managers ignored the outside environment such as other organizations, markets, government regulations and the like, but that their strategies and other decision-making processes gave relatively little consideration to the impact these external forces might have on the internal operations of the organization.

Open-systems theory originated in the natural sciences and subsequently spread to fields as diverse as computer science, ecology, engineering, management, and psychotherapy. In contrast to closed-systems, the open-system perspective views an organization as an entity that takes inputs from the environment, transforms them, and releases them as outputs in tandem with reciprocal effects on the organization itself along with the environment in which the organization operates. That is, the organization becomes part and parcel of the environment in which it is situated. Returning for a moment to the example of biological systems as open-systems, billions of individual cells in the human body, themselves composed of thousands of individual parts and processes, are essential for the viability of the larger body in which they are a part. In turn, "macro-level" processes such as eating and breathing make the survival of individual cells contingent on these larger processes. In much the same way, open-systems of organizations accept that organizations are contingent on their environments and these environments are also contingent on organizations.

As an open-systems approach spread among organizational theorists, managers began incorporating these views into practice. Two early pioneers in this effort, Daniel Katz and Robert Kahn, began viewing organizations as open social systems with specialized and interdependent subsystems and processes of communication, feedback, and management linking the subsystems. Katz and Kahn argued that the closed-system approach fails to take into account how organizations are reciprocally dependent on external environments. For example, environmental forces such as customers and competitors exert considerable influence on corporations, highlighting the essential relationship between an organization and its environment as well as the importance of maintaining external inputs to achieve a stable organization.

Furthermore, the open-system approach serves as a model of business activity; that is, business as a process of transforming inputs to outputs while realizing that inputs are taken from the external environment and outputs are placed into this same environment. Companies use inputs such as labor, funds, equipment, and materials to produce goods or to provide services and they design their subsystems to attain these goals. These subsystems are thus analogous to cells in the body, the organization itself is analogous to the body, and external market and regulatory conditions are analogous to environmental factors such as the quality of housing, drinking water, air and availability of nourishment.

2. Cite a company that uses any of this model. Describe briefly how this chosen model affect the entire company.

NADLER AND TUSHMAN'S CONGRUENCE MODEL.

Nadler and Tushman's model presents the dynamics of what occurs in an organization when we try to change it. The foundation of this model is that of the organization as an open system, in which organizational subsystems are influence by the external environment. The organizational system draws inputs from internal and external sources—such as the organization's own strategy, its resources, and its environment—and transforms them into outputs, such as behavior and performance. This transformation from inputs to outputs occurs through four organizational elements: the work, the people, and the formal and informal organization. The work involves the daily activities carried out by individuals in the organization. The skills and capabilities of the people involved in the organization are critical. The formal organization is characterized by its structure, its standard procedures, and its policies. The informal organization encompasses things such as norms, values, and political behavior.

In this model, effective change occurs when all four components (work, people, formal, and informal organization) are managed, because they are all interrelated. A change in the work procedures themselves may not be effective if the people do not have the capabilities to engage in the new practices. A change to the formal organization may not be effective if the beliefs and values of people (i.e., the informal organization) do not support it. If there is a lack of congruence among these four elements, then there is resistance to change. Furthermore, there may be control issues in which there is confusion over who regulates the new structures and processes. Finally, power problems may occur as managers and employees feel threatened that their current power may be removed by the change.

3. Evaluate how an environment affects the organization and its management. Discuss the pro's and con's of not responding to the demands of the environment.

Computers and communications equipment are proving a great benefit to the environment, but the disposal of obsolete hardware is causing an ecological headache.

THE SILICON VALLEY Toxics Coalition (SVTC) is a grassroots organization in California that monitors the pollution generated by computer production. In 1999, the group discovered a new way to use computers themselves to uncover some of the toxic consequences of computer manufacturing. The organization commissioned experts in geographic information system (GIS) software to create computer-based maps showing pollution from semi-conductor manufacturing in northern California.here are three broad areas in which information technologies intersect with efforts to build an environmentally sustainable society. The first is the ecological impact of the production, use, and disposal of information technologies. The toxic chemicals used to make semiconductors, circuit boards, and electronic monitors can cause pollution, as SVTC's maps attest. The disposal of information technologies also creates environmental hazards. Obsolete computers burden landfills, just as old satellites add to the celestial junkyard.

Yet, the net environmental effect of the use of information technologies is far from clear. On the downside, computers require electricity and use paper, while radio, television, and the Internet broadcast advertising and programs that may drive people to buy resource-intensive products. On the other hand, there are myriad ways the use of information tools may benefit the environment--for example, by substituting data for materials and energy, or communication for transportation.

The second area is monitoring and modeling the environment. The computer-generated maps with pollution data on SVTC's website are just one instance of information technology helping people monitor the environment. Satellite sensors are providing clearer pictures of environmental change than ever before, such as spreading fires in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia, ozone loss above the Antarctic, and the shrinking of the Aral Sea. Researchers are using computers to study various environmental scenarios, from urban transportation alternatives to the burning of fossil fuels.

Networking for sustainable development is the third area of overlap. By placing the maps of toxic sites on the Internet, SVTC gives anyone with a computer and a modern access to the data. Communications systems, such as the Internet and cellular telephones, are speeding the exchange of all types of information, including environmental data. By linking far-flung people, the network helps researchers and activists work together to solve environmental problems. The expanding communications network transmits information to remote areas, where it can be used to boost human development--helping teachers to extend educational programs, doctors to provide information and emergency aid, and rural farmers and entrepreneurs to reach urban markets.

Throughout their lives, computers, satellites, televisions, and other telecommunications instruments take a toll on Earth's resources. Their effects on the environment at birth and death--production and disposal--are fairly easy to estimate, but the net environmental effect during their useful lives is much harder to gauge.

Making computers requires energy and water. The production of the silicon semiconductors that form computer chips is particularly energy- and water-intensive. A single large semiconductor manufacturing plant, producing 5,000 eight-inch wafers a week, could use as much electrical power and water as a small city.

Manufacturing computers and television sets generates waste, much of it hazardous. Toxic solvents, acids, and heavy metals are used in the manufacture of semiconductors, printed wiring boards, and cathode ray tubes for computer monitors and TV screens.Computers and mobile phones present a tremendous disposal problem--in part because they become obsolete so quickly. A 1999 study by the U.S. National Safety Council estimated that 20,600,000 personal computers became obsolete in America in 1998 alone. Of these, just 11% were recycled and three percent were resold or donated. Because computers become outdated rapidly, repair is costly compared to the price of new goods. When computers are trashed, the lead in monitors, the mercury and chromium in central processing units, and the arsenic and halogenated organic substances inside the devices all become health hazards.

Cite your reference.

http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Ob-Or/Open-and-Closed-Systems.html
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Pr-Sa/Reactive-vs-Proactive-Change.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2660_128/ai_62590576/?tag=rbxcra.2.a.11