• Phase 1
January
April
• Phase 2
• Phase 3
August
December
• Phase 4
2-2
Q1:
Q2:
Q3:
Q4:
Q5:
Q6:
How did this stuff get here?
What is a business process?
What are the components of a business process?
What is information?
What is the role of information in business processes?
How do information systems support business
processes?
How does the knowledge in this chapter help Dee
and you?
2-3
In order for Dee to get a budget approved for the
blog she needs to:
Provide specific details
 Provide answers to:
 How will this blog impact the sales process?
 How will the salespeople use it?
 How will it help gain sales?

2-4
 Business processes must work together as an
integrated system
 A business must:
 Obtain
payments for its goods and services
 Cover costs
 Make profit
2-5
 A network of activities, resources, facilities,
and information that interact to achieve
some business function.
2-6
 Business process is a network of:
 Activities (processes)
 Resources (inputs)
 Facilities (inputs)
 Information (both inputs and outputs)
 Processes interact to achieve business
function
2-7
 Business systems are integrated processes
 Examples:
 Inventory management processes
 Manufacturing processes
 Sales and support processes
 Accounting systems
 HRM
2-8
 Activities – transform resources and information
of one type into resources and information of
another type.
 Resources – items of value, such as customers,
suppliers, employees, distributors, and so on
 Facilities – structures used within resources. Ex:
inventories, databases
 Information – activities use information to know
how to transform inputs to outputs.
2-9
Figure 2-1
2-10
1.
Purchasing (activity) queries Inventory Database
(facility) and obtains QuantityOnHand (information)
2.
If reorder needed, Purchasing generates Order
(information) to Supplier (resource)
3.
Order Placement (activity) sends copy to Receiving
(activity)
4.
Receiving puts goods into Inventory (facility)
5.
Record (Info) sent to Inventory Database (facility) and
Payment (activity)
2-11
6.
Supplier sends ShippingInvoice (info) to
Payment
7.
ShippingInvoice compared to Order, generates
Check (info and resource)
8.
Counter Sales (activity) interacts with Customer
(resource), Inventory (resource), and Inventory
Database (facility)
2-12
 Transform resources and information from one
form into another
 Follow rules and procedures
 Can be manual, automated, or combination
 Example:
 Payment (activity) transforms QuantityReceived
(information) and ShippingInvoice
(information) into PaymentToSupplier
(resource)
2-13
 Items of value
 External to organization
 Examples:
 Customers
 Suppliers
 Consultants
2-14
 Structures used within business process
 Places where things are produced or stored, or
equipment, machines, buildings
 Examples:
 Inventories
 Databases
 Factories
 Equipment
2-15
 Used by activities
 Determines how to transform inputs into
outputs
 So, what is information and how is it
different than data?
2-16
 Knowledge is derived from data
 Data is processed and presented in meaningful context
 Data is processed by summing, ordering, averaging,
grouping, comparing, or other similar operations
 Information is “a difference that makes a difference”
Data
Processes
Information
Knowledge
2-17
1. Accurate
 Correct and complete
 Crucial for management
 Cross-check information to ensure accuracy
2. Timely
 Produced in time for intended use
3. Relevant to both:
 Context
 Subject
2-18
4. Just Barely Sufficient
 Sufficient for purpose for which generated
 Do not need too much or extraneous information
5. Worth its cost
 Relationship between cost and value
 Information systems cost money to develop, maintain,
and use
 Must be worth the cost (time and money)
2-19
 Business processes generate information by giving
context to data:
Process gives context to data
 May turn low-level information into high-level
information


Useful for management and strategy decisions
 Wikipedia Definition of Business Process
2-20
 IS supports activities in a business process
Several activities may use one information system
 Activity may have own information system
 Activity may use several information systems

 Systems designers determine relationship of activities to
information systems
 Relationships are determined during systems
development
2-21
2-22
 Automation of processes
 Transfers
work done by people to computers
 People follow procedures (instructions)
 Computers follow software instructions
2-23
Figure 2-4
2-24
 Fully automated (McDonald’s new drive-up window
technology)
 Cashiers do not require extensive training
 Cashiers do not work directly with programs on computer
 Computer in cash register communicates with computer
connected to the Inventory Database
 Programs record sales and make changes
2-25
Figure 2-5
2-26
 Payment receives QuantityReceived and ShippingInvoice
and produces SupplierPayment
 Mostly manual
Accounts Payable Clerk reads documents and issues
payment or investigates discrepancies
 Processing exceptions complicated
 Programming expensive
 Probably not effective

2-27
Figure 2-6
2-28
 Purchasing clerk’s computer runs program that
queries database and identifies stock levels and
generates PurchaseOrder
 Designers decided to balance work between
automation and manual activity
Searching database is repetitive
 Automated process
 Selecting suppliers is complicated
 Manual process

2-29
 To understand the need for business processes,
the importance of process design, and the role
that information systems play in support of such
processes
 A seemingly simple business process can be
unexpectedly complex
2-30
2-31
 Your mind and your thinking are the most
important part of information system.
 The quality of your thinking is a large part of the
quality of the information system.
 You can dramatically improve the quality of your
thinking if you are able to use information systems
effectively.
2-32
 A “problem” is defined as a “perceived difference
between what is and what ought to be”.
 An information system development team must
have common definition and understanding of the
problem in order to communicate with each other.
 What can a development team do to create
common definitions and understanding?
2-33
 Egocentric thinking
Centers on self
 “I’m right, everyone else is wrong.”
 “I believe sales are declining because our price is too
high. We need to cut the price.”

 Empathetic thinking
“My View” is one possible interpretation.
 Take time to learn what others are thinking.
 Take time to understand the problem domain as a
system. (What factors can affect sales?)

2-34
 “Professor Jones, I couldn’t come to class last Monday. Did
we do anything important?”
 Egocentric Thinking
 Implies the student isn’t accountable for his actions
 Implies professor lectured on nothing important
 Doesn’t take into account professor’s view of absences
 Assumes the professor has time to rehash the class
discussions and activities one-on-one.
 Puts responsibility on the professor to remember
everything said in class.
2-35
 “I couldn’t come to class, but I got the class notes from
Mary. I read through them, and I have a question…Oh by
the way, I’m sorry to trouble you with my problem.”
 Empathetic thinking approach
 Takes personal responsibility
 Minimizes impact of absence on someone else
 Considers impact from professor’s side
 Considers that the professor must interrupt their other
work to give extra help so you can recover from your
absence
2-36
 Suppose you buy a new laptop and it fails within a
few days. Repeated calls to customer support
produce short-term fixes, but your problem
continues.
 Three plausible reasons for the problem:
1. Customer support does not have data about prior
customer contacts.
2. Customer support recommended a solution that did
not work.
3. Company is shipping too many defective laptops.
2-37
What happens if you are meeting with three people who have
three different views concerning the customer support
problem use?
Q: How would they behave?
Q: Which thinking style would lead to a more productive
meeting? Why?
When you enter the business world, being able to discern
and adapt to the perspectives and goals of those with whom
you work will make you much more effective.
2-38
 After reading this chapter, Dee and you should:
 Understand the need for business processes, the importance of
process design, and the role that information systems play in support
of these processes

Be able to create process diagrams to show information needed

Understand the usefulness of blogs as a facility that contains
information that makes a difference

Be able to answer the three questions Dee’s boss asked
2-39
Q1: How did this stuff get here?
Q2: What is a business process?
Q3: What are the components of a business process?
Q4: What is information?
Q5: What is the role of information in business
processes?
Q6: How do information systems support business
processes?
2-40
• Phase 1
April
• Phase 3
• Phase 2
January
December
• Phase 4
August