Business Assignment

The following three questions pertain to the two sets of mini-cases referenced below. You need to answer each question separately for each mini-case. The first set of mini-cases is freely accessible on the Web - links to each are provided below. To access the second set of mini-cases, you are expected to log into 'ABI Inform' via theLangsdale Library Website and search for each case separately. (The syllabus provides more information on how to do this.)

1. For each system/application in the mini-cases, discuss whether its description suggests features/functionalities from one or more of the following categories of information systems covered in Chapters 2, 9, 11, and 12 of the text -- TPS, MIS, DSS, ESS, ERP, SCM, CRM, KMS, collaboration environments, GIS, and GDSS. Some of these categories have multiple sub-categories, so be sure to identify any applicable sub-categories in your answer.

(As a hypothetical example, one particular system in a mini-case may appear to primarily be a decision support system targeted at mid-to-upper-level managers working in finance and accounting, with added functionality or features that resemble a management information system designed for lower-to-mid-level managers in sales and marketing. Your answer will need more elaboration and discussion, of course.)

2. In which stage (or stages) of decision making does each system best assist its respective user community -- intelligence stage, design stage, choice stage, and/or implementation stage? Discuss and justify your answer.

(Refer to Figure 12-2, page 470, for the decision making stages.)

Note: This question is about how each system is being used, not how it was built.

3. As implemented, each system is probably interconnected/linked to other systems or applications in the organization. Although the mini-cases do not necessarily address this aspect, from your understanding of organizations, business processes, and systems, describe some possible examples of such interconnections for each system. Explain your reasoning, while explicitly stating any assumptions.

Mini-Cases Available on the Web

• New Age of NBA Analytics: Advantage or Overload?- http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/03/29/new-age-nba-analytics-advantage-overload/1gAim4yKYXGUQ2CTAe7iCO/story.html

• NASCIO 2014 State IT Recognition Awards http://www.nascio.org/Awards/SIT/2014
(click the various links on this page to discuss at least any two cases from this superset)

Mini-Cases Available Via ABI/Inform

(you will need to log in to the Langsdale Library Website to search for and access the full text of these articles)

• Strategyn Holdings, LLC; Patent Issued for Universal Customer Based Information and Ontology Platform for Business Information and Innovation Management.

• Changing Transportation: From Drivers to Data.

• Marketing DSS Architecture for Sports Sponsorship Management.