Value Chain Management

• A value chain is a series of activities involved in producing shipping and receiving goods.
• Managing these activities is often called supply chain management.
• There are two types of value chain management
1. Upstream management
• the process of creating products
2. Downstream management
• the process of shipping and selling products to consumers.

Organisation and Information Systems

• An organization is a formal collection of people and other resources established to accomplish a set of goals.
• Organizations are composed of information systems.
• Information system collate, organize,  sort and store information.

the essential components of an information system

1. Hardware
• The term hardware refers to machinery. This category includes the computer itself, which is often referred as the contral processing unit(CPU), and all of its support equipments. Among the support equipments are input and output devices, storage devices and communication devices.
2. Software
• The term software refers to computer programs and the manuals that support them, Computer programs are machine-readable instructions that direct the circuitry within the hardware [arts of the CBIS to function in ways that produce useful information from data. Programs are generally stored on some input and output medium often a disk or tape.
3. Data
• Data are facts that are uised by programs to produce useful information. Like programs, data are generally stored in machine-readable from on disk or tape until the computer needs them.
4. Procedure
• Procedures are the policies that govern the operation of a computer system. "Procedures are to  people what software is to hardware" is a common analogy that is used to illustrate the role of procedures in a CBIS.
5. People
• Every CBIS needs people if it is to be useful. Often the most over-looked element of the CBIS are the people, probably the component that most influence the success or failure of information system.

Computer-based Information System

Computer-based Information System (CBIS) consists of hardware, software, database, telecommunications, people and procedures.

System

• A system : a set of elements that interact to accomplish a goal or set of objectives
• Components of a system: input, processing, mechanism, output, boundaries, feedbacks.

System's classification

• Simple vs Complex
• Stable vs Dynamic
• Open vs Closed
• Temporary vs Permanent

Data vs Information

• Data consists of raw facts.
• Information is data transformed into a meaningful form.
• Knowledge is an awareness and understanding of a set of information and how that information can be made useful to support a specific task.

Information's characteristics

• Accurate
• Complete
• Economical to produce
• Flexible
• Reliable
• Relevant
• Simple to understand
• Timely
• Verifiable
• Accessible
• Secure

Who create information system?

• Sponsor
• User
• System Analysts
• to research problems, plans the soluitions of information system although they recommends software and systems as well as coordinates developments to meet the requirements of business needs. They are familiar with many programming languages, operating systems and computer hardware platforms and their responsible is to develop cost analysis design considerations and implementation time-lines.
• System Designers
• to design monitoring and performance measurements and processes and they work on the possibility of a conceptual design by taking technical specifications prepared by the system analysts. Also they draw up detailed design documentations of information system including charts and diagrams that indicate the various components involved.
• System Builders