Standard Solution

1. A manufacturer of hair and care shampoo is seeking to hire some salesmen and
sales-women having specific characteristics. They need only unmarried
personnel between the age of 18 and 30. For salesmen, the minimum height
needed is 51/2 feet and less than 75kg in weight and not bald. For sales-women,
the maximum height needed is 51/2 feet and less than 55 kg in weight and should
have shoulder-length hair. Construct the decision table/s for the above.

Initial R1 R2 R3 R4 R5
Screening
C1 Unmarried Y Y Y Y N
C2 Age >= 18 Y Y N Y -
C3 Age <= 30 Y Y - N -
C4 Male Y N - - -
A1 Go to male X
Selection
table
A2 Go to X
female
selection
table
A3 Reject X X X

Male R1 R2 R3 R4
Selection
C1 Height >= Y Y Y N
51’2 ft
C2 Weight <= Y Y N -
75 kg
C3 Not Bald Y N - -
A1 Hire X
A2 Reject X X X

Female R1 R2 R3 R4
Selection
C1 Height >= Y Y Y N
51’2 ft
C2 Weight <= Y Y N -
55 kg
C3 Shoulder Y N - -
length hair
A1 Hire X
A2 Reject X X X

2. A list of employees with their basic pay is sent to a clerk. He calculates the gross
pay using standard allowances which are known for each pay slab. Deduction
statements such as loan repayment, subscription to association etc.. are also
sent to another clerk who matches these slips with the gross pay and calculates
net pay. This slip is used by another clerk to write pay cheques for each
employee and sent to respective employees along with all the details. Construct
a process specification diagram (DFD) for the above.
3. A project cost Rs. 2 lakhs and the net benefits are Rs. 50,000 (1 st year), Rs.
80,000 (2nd Year), Rs. 90,000 (3rd Year), Rs. 70,000 (4th Year), Rs 50,000 (5th Year)
and Rs 30,000 (6th year). Assuming 10% interest rate, compute the pay-back
period. Would you proceed with your project if your criterion is cost/benefit?

Ye
ar Benefit Current
(n) cost (x) Value Cumulative Benefit
20000
0 0
1 50000 45454.55 45454.55
2 80000 66115.70 111570.25
3 90000 67618.33 179188.58
4 70000 47810.94 226999.52
PV = x/(1+r/100)^n
Pay Back Period is 4 years.

4. Answer any FIVE of the following (20)

i. What are the different types of decisions and how does the decision making
process works?

<Stages> + each of these levels has different information requirements for

decision support and responsibility for different types of decisions.
• Senior management deals mainly with unstructured decisions.
• Middle management deals with semi structured decisions.
• Operational management deals with structured decisions.

i. What are core activities in the system development process?

System analysis: requires an organization to analyze problems it will try to
solve with information systems. It includes defining a problem, identifying its
causes, specifying the solution, and identifying information requirements that
must be met by the system solution. System analysis requires determining if
the solution is feasible from a financial, technical, and organizational
standpoint.

System design: shows how the system will fulfill the objective of the system
analysis. It’s the overall plan or model for the system that serves as a
blueprint and consists of all the specifications that give the system its form
and structure. The specifications outline managerial, organizational, and
technological components of the system solution.

ii. How do DSS differ from MIS and how do they provide value to the business?
Management information systems (MIS) provide routine reports and
summaries of transaction-level data to middle and operational level managers
to provide answers to structured and semi structured decision problems.
MISs provide information on the firm’s performance to help managers monitor
and control the business. They typically produce fixed, regularly scheduled
reports based on data extracted and summarized from the firm’s underlying
transaction processing systems. The formats for these reports are often
specified in advance.
 Decision-support systems (DSS) provide analytical models or tools for
analyzing large quantities of data and supportive interactive queries for
middle managers who face semi structured situations. DSSs emphasizes
change, flexibility, and rapid responses. With a DSS there is less of an effort
to link users to structured information flows and a correspondingly greater
emphasis on models, assumptions, ad-hoc queries and display graphics.

iii. Define an information system and describe the conceptual structure of

information system.
An information system is a set of interrelated components that work together
to collect, process, store, and disseminate information to support decision
making, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization in an organization +
<diagram>

iv. Define complementary assets and describe their relationship to information

technology.
Complementary assets are those assets required to derive value from a
primary investment. Firms must rely on supportive values, structures, and
behavior patterns to obtain a greater value from their IT investments. Value
must be added through complementary assets such as new business
processes, management behavior, organizational culture, and training.

v. List and describe the major costs and benefits of information systems.
Distinguish between tangible and intangible benefits
All of the major costs and benefits of information systems are divided among
five system components: hardware, software, telecommunications, personnel,
and services. Some of the tangible benefits include increased productivity,
lower operational costs, and a reduced workforce. Among the intangible
benefits are improved organizational planning, more timely information,
improved decision making, and increased job satisfaction.

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