Foundations of Information Systems

IS101
enterprise
applications
Enterprise System, Global E-business
collaboration
and Collaboration
IS role

By
Dr. Nora Shoaip
Lecture 4

Damanhour University
Faculty of Computers & Information Sciences
Department of Information Systems

2024 - 2025
 Learning Objectives
1. Explain how enterprise applications improve organizational
performance
2. Explain the importance of collaboration and teamwork in business
and how they are supported by technology
3. Assess the role of the information systems function in a business

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KIND OF SYSTEM GROUPS SERVED
STRATEGIC SENIOR
LEVEL MANAGERS

MANAGEMENT MIDDLE MANAGERS

LEVEL

KNOWLEDGE &
KNOWLEDGE DATA WORKERS
LEVEL

OPERATIONAL OPERATIONAL
LEVEL MANAGERS
SALES & MANUFACTURING FINANCE ACCOUNTING HUMAN
MARKETING RESOURCES
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 Enterprise Applications
The challenge is to make all these systems work together
• Corporations are put together both through normal “organic”
growth and through acquisition of smaller firms.
• Over a period of time, corporations end up with a collection of
systems, most of them older, and face the challenge of getting
them all to “talk” with one another and work together as one
corporate system.

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Enterprise Applications

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 Enterprise Applications
The challenge is to make all these systems work together

Solution: is to implement enterprise applications, which are systems that

span functional areas, focus on executing business processes across the
business firm, and include all levels of management.
Enterprise applications are used to ensure that TPS, MIS, DSS, and ESS work
together smoothly. Enterprise applications are used to manage the information
used in the systems discussed previously

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 Enterprise Applications
The challenge is to make all these systems work together

Solution: is to implement enterprise applications, which are systems that

span functional areas, focus on executing business processes across the
business firm, and include all levels of management.
Enterprise applications are used to ensure that TPS, MIS, DSS, and ESS work
together smoothly. Enterprise applications are used to manage the information
used in the systems discussed previously

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 Enterprise Applications
Four major applications:

• Enterprise systems
• Supply chain management systems
• Customer relationship management systems
• Knowledge management systems

• Each of these enterprise applications integrates a related set of

functions and business processes to enhance the performance
of the organization as a whole.
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 Enterprise Applications
Enterprise Systems or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

• Integrate business processes in manufacturing and production, finance

and accounting, sales and marketing, and human resources into a single
software system.

• Pull information from many parts of the firm and enable processes both
across the firm, at different organizational levels, as well as with suppliers
and customers.

• Information that was previously fragmented in many different systems is

stored in a single comprehensive data repository where it can be used by
many different parts of
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 Enterprise Applications
Enterprise Systems or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Example, when a customer places an order, the order data flow

automatically to other parts of the company that are affected by them.
The order transaction triggers the warehouse to pick the ordered products
and schedule shipment. The warehouse informs the factory to replenish
whatever has been depleted. The accounting department is notified to
send the customer an invoice. Customer service representatives track the
progress of the order through every step to inform customers about the
status of their orders. Managers are able to use firm-wide information
to make more precise and timely decisions about daily operations and
longer-term planning
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 Business Processes

For example, fulfilling a customer order involves a complex set of

steps that requires the close coordination of the sales, accounting, and
manufacturing functions.
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 Enterprise Applications
• Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems

- Manage firm’s relationships with suppliers

- Share information about:

• Orders, production, inventory levels, delivery of products
and services

- Goal:
• Right amount of products to destination with least
amountof time and lowest cost
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 Enterprise Applications
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems:

- Provide information to coordinate all of the business

processes that deal with customers
-Sales
-Marketing
-Customer service

- Helps firms identify, attract, and retain most profitable

customers
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 Enterprise Applications

Knowledge management systems (KMS)

- Support processes for capturing and applying knowledge
and expertise
How to create, produce, deliver products and services
- Collect internal knowledge and experience within firm and
make it available to employees
- Link to external sources of knowledge

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Intranets and Extranets
• Enterprise applications create deep-seated changes in the way the firm
conducts its business, offering many opportunities to integrate important
business data into a single system.
• They are often costly and difficult to implement.

• Solution: Intranets and extranets is an alternative tool for increasing

integration. Intranets and extranets use Internet technology to
communicate internally to employees, allow employees to
communicate with one another and share documents, and to help
communication with suppliers and customers.

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Intranets and Extranets

- Intranets:
Internal company Web sites accessible only by employees
- Extranets:
Company Web sites accessible externally only to vendors
and suppliers
Often used to coordinate supply chain

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E-business, E-commerce, and E-government
Systems and technologies we have just described are transforming
firms’ relationships with customers, employees, and suppliers into digital
relationships using networks and the Internet. Businesses are now enabled by or
based upon digital networks, i.e. e-businesses.
- E-business:
Use of digital technology and Internet to drive major business processes
- E-commerce:
Subset of e-business.
Buying and selling goods and services through Internet
- E-government:
Governments use internet technology to deliver information and services to
citizens, employees, and businesses
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Systems for Collaboration

• Collaboration is working with others to achieve shared and

explicit goals.

• Can be:
– Short-lived or long-term
– Informal or formal (teams)
– One to one, or many to many

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Systems for Collaboration
• Teams are a formal approach to collaborate

• Teams are part of the organization’s business structure for

getting things done.

• Teams have a specific mission.

• The members of the team need to collaborate on the

accomplishment of specific tasks and collectively achieve the
team mission
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Systems for Collaboration
• Business benefits of collaboration and teamwork
– Investments in collaboration technology can bring
organization improvements
– needs a supportive business firm culture
– Benefits:
• Productivity: complete a complex task faster
• Quality: communicate errors, and correct actions faster
• Innovation: come up with more innovative ideas
• Customer service: solve customer complaints and issues faster
• Financial performance Profitability, sales, sales growth

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Intranets and Extranets
The function of middle managers is to
build the teams, coordinate their work,
and monitor their performance (instead of
command and control – old approach)
Successful
collaboration
requires an
appropriate
organizational
structure and
culture, along with
appropriate
collaboration
technology.

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Systems for Collaboration
• Building a collaborative culture and business processes
– “Command and control” organizations
• No value placed on teamwork or lower-level
participation in decisions
– Collaborative business culture
• Senior managers rely on teams of employees.
• Policies, products, designs, processes, and systems rely on teams.
• The managers purpose is to build, coordinate, and
monitor teams.

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Systems for Collaboration
• Tools for collaboration and teamwork
– E-mail and instant messaging
– Wikis - Virtual worlds
– Collaboration and social business platforms
• Virtual meeting systems (telepresence)
• Google Apps/Google sites
• Cyberlockers
• Microsoft SharePoint: a browser-based collaboration and document
management platform, combined with a powerful search engine.
• Lotus Notes
• Enterprise social networking tools
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Systems for Collaboration
• Two dimensions of collaboration technologies
– Space (or location)—remote or co-located
– Time—synchronous or asynchronous
• Six steps in evaluating software tools
1. What are your firm’s collaboration challenges?
2. What kinds of solutions are available?
3. Analyze available products’ cost and benefits.
4. Evaluate security risks.
5. Consult users for implementation and training issues.
6. Evaluate product vendors.
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Systems for Collaboration

Collaboration technologies can be classified in terms of whether they

support interactions at the same or different time or place or whether
these interactions are remote or co-located.
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The Information Systems Department

• Information systems department:

• Formal organizational unit responsible for information
technology services
• Often headed by chief information officer (CIO)
• Other senior positions include chief security officer
(CSO), chief privacy officer (CPO)
• Programmers
• Systems analysts
• Information systems managers
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The Information Systems Department

• End users
– Representatives of other departments for whom
applications are developed
– Increasing role in system design and development

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 >> Management Information Systems,
Source Managing the Digital Firm, 13 Edition
(2014), Laudon and Laudon.

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