Assi

gnment

Cour
seCode : MS-
7

Cour
seTi
tl
e : I
nfor
mat
ionSy
stemsf
orManager
s

Assi
gnmentNo. : MS-
7/TMA/
Sem-
II
/2020

Not
e:At
temptal
lthequest
ionsandsubmi
tthi
sassi
gnmentt
otheCoor
dinat
orofy
ourSt
udy

1
 Cent
reonorbef
ore31stOct
ober
,2020.

Q1.“
Thet echnol
ogypl ay
sani mport
antrol
ei ndeli
veri
ngti
melyanderrorf
reeinfor
mationto
i
tsr eci
pients” Expl
aint he meani
ng of infor
mat i
on t
echnol
ogy and discuss t
ypes of
i
nformati
onsy stem i
nbrief.

Ans:

Inf
or mati
ont echnol ogy(I
T)istheuseofcomput er
stostore,retri
eve,t
ransmit,andmanipul
ate
dataorinf ormat ion.ITistypi
call
yusedwi t
hinthecont
extofbusi nessoperat
ionsasopposedt o
personalorent ertainmenttechnologi
es.I
Ti sconsi
deredt obeasubsetofi nf
ormat
ionand
communi cationst echnology(ICT).Aninformati
ontechnologysy st
em (ITsystem)isgenerall
y
ani nfor
mat i
onsy stem,acommuni cati
onssy st
em or,morespeci fi
cal
lyspeaking,acomputer
system –i ncludingal lhardware,soft
wareandper i
pheralequipment–oper atedbyal i
mited
groupofuser s.

Humanshav ebeenst ori

ng,retr
iev i
ng,mani pulati
ng,andcommuni cati
nginformati
onsincet he
Sumer i
ansi nMesopot ami adev elopedwr iti
ngi nabout3000BC,butt het er
mi nformation
technol ogyini t
smoder nsensef i
rstappear edina1958ar t
iclepubl i
shedi ntheHar vard
Busi nessRev i
ew;aut horsHar ol
dJ.Leav i
ttandThomasL.Whi slercomment edthat"t
henew
technol ogydoesnoty ethav easi ngl eest
ablishedname.Weshal lcalliti
nfor
mat i
ontechnology
(IT).
"Thei rdefi
nit
ionconsi stsoft hreecategories:techni
quesforpr ocessi
ng,theappli
cati
onof
statisti
calandmat hemat i
calmet hodst odeci si
on-making,andthesi mulati
onofhi gher-
order
thinkingthroughcomput erprogr
ams.

Thet ermiscommonl yusedasasy nony

mf orcomput er
sandcomput ernetworks,butitalso
encompassesot herinfor
mat i
ondist
ri
buti
ontechnologiessuchast el
evisi
onandt el
ephones.
Severalpr
oductsorser vi
ceswi t
hinaneconomyar eassociatedwi thinfor
mationt echnol
ogy,
i
ncluding comput er har
dware,software,el
ectronics,semi conduct
ors,i nt
ernet,t el
ecom
equipment,ande-commer ce.

Ty
pesofi
nfor
mat
ionsy
stem

At ypicalorganizat
ion has six ofinfor
mat i
on sy stems wi t
h each suppor ti
ng a speci
fi
c
organi
zati
onallev el
.These sy st
emsi ncl
ude t r
ansact i
on processing sy
stems( TPS)atthe
operat
ionall
evel,off
iceautomat i
onsystems( OAS)andknowl edgewor ksystems( KWS)atthe
knowledgelevel
,managementi nfor
mati
onsy stems( MI S)anddeci si
onsuppor tSyst
ems(DSS)
atthemanagementl evel
, andtheexecut
ivesuppor tsystems(ESS) atthest
rategicl
evel.

Tr
ansact
ionPr
ocessi
ngSy
stems

Everyfi
rm needstopr ocesstransactionsinordertoperformt heirdailybusi
nessoper at
ions.A
tr
ansacti
onr efer
st oanyev entoract i
vi
tythataf fect
st heor ganizati
on.Dependingont he
organi
zati
on’s busi
ness,t r
ansactions may di f
ferf rom one or ganizati
on to another.Ina
manufacturi
ngunit,forexampl e,transacti
onsincludeor derentry,recei
ptofgoods,shi pping,
etc.
,whil
einabank, t
ransacti
onsi ncludedepositsandwi t
hdrawals, cashi
ngofchequeset c.

2
 However,somet ransacti
ons,incl
udingplacingor ders,bil
li
ngcustomers,hi r
ingempl oyees,
employeerecordkeepi
ng,etc.,ar
ecommont oal lorganizat
ions.Tosupporttheprocessingof
busi
nesstransact
ions,t
hetransact
ionprocessingsystems( TPS)areusedintheorganizati
ons.

Of
fi
ceAut
omat
ionSy
stems

Anofficeautomationsy st
em (OAS)isacol l
ecti
onofcommuni cat
iontechnol
ogy,comput
ers
andper sonstoper f
orm offi
cialt
asks.Itexecutesoff
icetr
ansact
ionsandsuppor t
soffi
cial
act
ivi
ti
es atev ery organi
zat
ionallevel
.These acti
vi
ti
es can be div
ided i
nto cl
eri
caland
manager i
alact
ivi
ti
es.

Cleri
calacti
vi
tiesper for
medwi ththehelpofof f
iceaut omationsystem incl
udepr epari
ngwr i
tten
communi cati
on, t
y pesett
ing,pr
inti
ng,mail
ing, schedulingmeet i
ngs, cal
endarkeeping.etc.Under
manager i
alact i
vi
ties,officeautomationsy stem hel psi nconferencing,creati
ngr eportsand
messages,and cont r
oll
ing perfor
mance of or ganizat
ion.Many appl icati
ons like wor d
processi
ng,electronicfil
i
ngande- mailar
ei ntegratedinof f
iceautomat i
onsy stem.

Wor
dPr
ocessi
ng

Wor dprocessi
ngi susedf orthepreparati
onofdocument slikelett
ers,repor
ts,memos,orany
typeofprint
ablemater i
albyelectr
onicmeans.Thet exti
senteredbykey boardanddispl
ayedon
thecomput er’
sdisplayunit.Thistextcanbeedi ted,st
ored,andr eproducedwi t
hthehelpof
commandspr esentint hewordpr ocessor.Wordprocessorshav efacil
i
tiesforspel
lchecki
ng,
grammarchecki ng,count i
ng( charact
er,
li
nes,pages,etc.
),automat i
cpagenumber i
ng,index
creati
on,headerandf ooter
,et
c.

Emai
l

E-mai
lorelect
roni
cmailfaci
li
tatesthetransferofmessagesordocument switht hehel
pof
computerandcommunicati
onl i
nes.Thishelpsinspeedydeliver
yofmai l
sandal soreduces
ti
meandcostofsendingapapermai l
.E-mailsupport
snotonlythetransferoft
extmessages
buti
talsohasopti
onsf
orsendingimages,audio,v
ideo,andmanyothertypesofdata.

Voi
ceMai
l

Voicemail
,animpor
tantcal
lservi
ce,al
l
owsr ecor
dingandstori
ngoftel
ephonemessagesi
nto
thecomputer
’smemory.Thei
ntendedpersoncanretr
iev
ethesemessagesanyti
me.

Knowl
edgeWor
kSy
stems

A knowledgeworksy stem (
KWS)isaspeci al
izedsy st
em buil
ttopr omotet hecreati
onof
knowledgeandt omakesur ethatknowledgeandt echni
calski
ll
sarepr operintegr
atedint
o
busi
ness.Ithel
pst heknowledgeworkersincreat
ingandpr opagat
ingnew i nformat
ionand
knowledge by provi
ding t
hem the graphi
cs,analyti
cal
,communi cati
ons,and document
managementtools.

Theknowl
edgewor
ker
sal
soneedt
osear
chf
orknowl
edgeout
sidet
heor
gani
zat
ion.Thus,

3
 knowledgeworksystem mustgi
veeasyaccesstoext
ernaldat
abases.I
naddit
ion,knowl
edge
wor ksyst
emsshouldhaveuser-
fr
iendl
yint
erf
acet
ohelpuserstogettherequi
redinf
ormati
on
quickl
yandeasi
ly
.

Someexamplesofknowledgeworksystemsar
ecomput
er-
aideddesi
gn(
CAD)
syst
ems,v
irt
ual
real
i
tysy
stems,andf
inanci
alwor
kstat
ions.

Computer-
aideddesi
gn(CAD)systems:Thesesy st
emsar eusedf orautomati
ngt hecr
eat
ion
andrevi
sionofdesignsusi
ngcomput ersandgraphicssof t
war
e.TheCADsof twarehasthe
capabi
l
itytoprovi
dedesi
gnspecif
icat
ionsfortooli
ngandmanuf actur
ingprocess.Thi
ssaves
muchtimeandmoneywhi l
emakingamanuf act
uringprocess.

Vir
tualReali
ty Syst
em:These systems have more capabi
li
ti
es than CAD sy
stems for
vi
suali
zat
ion,r
enderi
ngandsimul
ati
on.Theymakeuseofinter
acti
vegraphi
cssof
twaret
obuild
computer-
generat
edsimul
ati
onswhichalmostl
ookli
kereal.Theycanbeusedineducat
ional
,
sci
enti
fi
candbusinesswork.

FinancialWorkstat
ions:Theyareusedt ocombi neawi der
angeofdatafrom i
nter
nalaswellas
externalsources.Thisdat aincludescont actmanagementdata,mar ketdat
aandr esearch
reports.Fi
nancialworkst
ationshelpinanal
y zi
ngtradi
ngsit
uati
onsandlargeamountoffi
nancial
datawi thi
nnot i
me.Itisalsousedf orpor
tfoli
omanagement .

ManagementI
nfor
mat
ionSy
stems

Managementi nf
ormationsy st
emsar eespecial
lydevel
opedtosupportplanning,contr
oll
i
ng,
anddecisi
on-makingfuncti
onsofmi ddl
emanager s.Amanagementinf
ormat i
onsy st
em (MIS)
extr
actstr
ansacti
ondat afr
om underly
ingTPSs,compi l
esthem,andpr oducesi nfor
mation
product
sintheform ofrepor
ts,di
spl
aysorresponses.

Thesei nfor
mati
onpr oductspr
ov i
deinf
ormationthatconformstodecisi
on-
makingneedsof
manager s and supervi
sor
s.Managementi nfor
mat i
on syst
ems use simplerout
ines l
ike
summar i
esandcompar i
sonswhichenablemanagerstotakedeci
sionsf
orwhicht
heprocedure
ofreachingatasolut
ionhasbeenspecif
iedi
nadv ance.

General
ly,theformatofr eport
spr oducedbyMI Sispr e-specif
ied.AtypicalMISreporti
sa
summar yreport,suchasar eportonthequarter
lysalesmadebyeachsal esr epr
esent
ati
veof
theorganizat
ion.Anothertypeofmanagementi nfor
mat ionsy stem r
eportisan;forexample,
excepti
on reportt hatspeci
fi
es the except
ion condit
ions t he sal
es made bysome sal es
repr
esentati
veisfarbelowthanexpected.

Usuall
y,managementi nformat
ionsyst
emsareusedtopr oducereport
sonmont hl
y,quarter
ly,
or
yearl
ybasi
s.Howev er,ifmanagerswantt
ov i
ewthedai
lyorhour l
ydata,MISenabl
esthem todo
so.Inaddi
ti
on,theyprov i
demanagersonli
neaccesst
ot hecurrentperf
ormanceaswel laspast
recor
dsoftheorganization.

Deci
si
onSuppor
tSy
stems

4
 Adecisionsuppor tsystem (
DSS)isani nteracti
vecomput er
-basedi
nformati
onsy stem t
hat ,l
ike
MIS,alsoser vesatt hemanagementl evelofanor ganizat
ion.However,i
ncont rasttoMI S,it
processesinformationtosupportthedeci si
onmaki ngprocessofmanagers.Itprov i
desmi ddle
manager switht hei nf
ormationthatenabl esthem t omakei ntel
l
igentdeci
sions.A deci si
on
supportsystem inabank,f orexample,enabl eamanagert oanalyzethechangi ngtrendsi n
depositsandloansinor dert
oascer t
ainthey earl
ytarget
s.

Decisi
onsupportsystemsar edesignedforeverymanagert oexecuteaspeci fi
cmanagerial
taskorprobl
em.Gener al
ly
,theyhelpmanagerstomakesemi -
str
uctureddeci
sions,thesol
uti
on
towhichcanbear ri
vedatlogical
ly
.However,sometimes,t
heycanalsohelpint aki
ngcomplex
decisi
ons.Tosupportsuchdecisi
ons,t
heyuseinfor
mationgener
atedbyOASsandTPSs.

Decision suppor
tsy stemshav emor eanalyticalpowerascompar ed t
o ot
herinf
ormati
on
syst
ems.Theyempl oyawi devari
etyofdecisionmodel stoanal y
zedat aorsummarizev
ast
amountofdat aintoaf orm( usual
lyform oftablesorchart
s)t hatmaket hecompar
isonand
anal
y sisofdataeasi erformanager s.Theyprov i
deint
eract
iveenv i
ronmentsothatt
heusers
coul
dwor kwi t
ht hem di r
ectl
y,addorchangedat aaspert heirrequi
rement
s,andasknew
questions.

Execut
iveSuppor
tSy
stems

Anexecutiv
esupportsyst
em (ESS)–anextensionofMI S–isacomput erbasedi nfor
mation
sy
stem thathel
psinddecisi
onmakingatthetop-l
evelofanorganizati
on.Thedecisionstaken
wi
ththehel pofexecutiv
esuppor tsy
stem arenon-rout
inedecisionsthateffectt heenti
re
or
gani
zationand,t
hus,r
equir
ejudgementandsight
.

As compar ed t o DSSs, ESSs of f

er mor e gener al comput i
ng capabi l
it
ies, bet t
er
telecommuni cationsandef f
ici
entdispl
ayoptions.Theyuset headv ancedgraphicssoftwar eto
displayt hecrit
icalinf
ormationintheform ofchar t
sorgr aphsthathel pseniorexecutivest o
solveawi der angeofpr oblems.Tomakeef fecti
vedecisions,t
heyusesummar izedinternal
dat afrom MI SandDSSaswel lasdatafrom exter
nalsourcesaboutev ent
sl i
kenewt axl aws,
new compet i
tors,etc.Theyf i
lt
er,compress,andt r
ackdat aofhi ghi mportanceandmakei t
availabletothest r
ategi
c-l
evelmanagers.

Q2.“
Inf
ormati
onsy st
em areusedi nallbusi
ness”
.Commentont hestatement.management
i
nformati
on syst
em ( MIS).
funct
ionalareas and oper
ati
ng di
vi
sions ofAlso expl
ainthe
fr
amewor kf
orunderstandi
ng.

Ans:

I
nfor
mat
ionandsy
stemswecannow def
ineabusi
nessi
nfor
mat
ionsy
stem asagr
oupof

5
 i
nt errel
atedcomponent sthatwor kcol lect
ivelytocar r
youti nput,processing,out put,stor
age
andcont rolactionsi nor dertoconv ertdatai ntoi nformationpr oductst hatcanbeusedt o
suppor tforecasting,planning,control,coordinati
on,deci sionmaki ngandoper ati
onalact i
vi
t i
es
i
n an or gani
sat i
on.I nt ermsoft hecomponent st hatunder taket hisact i
vity,theycan be
classifi
edi nt
of ivebasi cresourcesofpeopl e,har dwar e,software,communi cat i
onsanddat a.
Peopl eresour cesi ncl
udet heusersanddev eloper sofani nformationsy stem andt hosewho
help mai ntai
nand oper atethesy st em suchasI S manager sand t echnicalsuppor tstaff.
Har dwarer esourcesi ncludecomput ersandot heritemssuchaspr i
nters.Sof twarer esources
refer to comput er pr ograms known as sof tware and associ ated instruction manual s.
Communi cat
ionsr esourcesincludenet worksandt hehar dwar eandsof twareneededt osuppor t
them.Dat ar esourcescov erthedat at hatanor ganisationhasaccesst osuchascomput er
dat abasesandpaperf il
es.

InmostorganisationsBusi nessI nformationSy stems( BI

S)makeext ensiveuseofi nfor
mation
technol
ogy,suchasper sonalcomput ers.Ther easonswhycomput er
isedBI Shav ebecome
widespr
eadar eev identint heiradv ant
agessuchasspeed,accur acyanddependabi lit
y.They
alsohaveahi ghdegr eeoff l
exibi
lit
yduet otheirabili
tyt
obepr ogrammedt ocarryoutawi de
vari
etyoftasks.Ther eare,howev er,somedi sadvantagestoBISsuchast hei
rlackofcreati
vit
y
thathumanspossessandt hedi ff
icult
yofi ncorporati
ngotherf
actorsint
ot hei
rdecisi
onmaki ng
suchasinnovationandi ntui
tion.

Informat i
on sy stems may be di vi
ded i ntot wo cat egories ofsy stems t hatsuppor tan
organi sati
on’
sday -t
o-daybusinessact ivi
tiesandsy stemst hatsuppor tmanager i
aldeci si
on
maki ng.Oper ationsInformati
onSy stems( OIS)aregener al
lyconcer nedwi thpr ocesscont rol
,
transact i
on processing and communi cati
ons.ManagementI nformation Sy stems( MIS)ar e
concer nedwi thpr ovi
dingsupporttomanager ialdecisionmaki ng.Recent l
yt hisdi vi
sionofBI S
i
nt ooper ati
onal andmanagementsy stems, al
thoughusef ulf
ormanager sr eviewi ngt hetypesof
BISi nuse,doesnotnowaccur at
elyref l
ectther eal
it
yofsy stemsusedwi thinanor ganisati
on,
par t
icularl
ywi t
ht heincreaseduseofi nter
-organi
sat ionale- commer ceandel ectroni
cdat a
i
nt erchange( EDI).Forexampl ee-businesssy stemsandent er priseresourcepl anni ngsy stems
cutacr oss both oper at
ionaland managementsy stems t o pr ovi
de busi nesses wi th mor e
i
nt egratedinformat i
onsystems.

Funct
ionalar
easandoper
ati
ngdi
vi
sionsofAl
soexpl
aint
hef
ramewor
kforunder
standi
ng

Therei stoo much data and i

nfor
mati
on in an organi
zat
ion.In ordert
o desi
gn a MIS
successful
ly
,weneedaf r
ameworktostr
uctur
etheinformat
ionsothatthedat
aandinf
ormat
ion
rel
evantfordeci
sion-
maki
ngcanbeseparat
edf r
om restoft
hedata.

Beforewet al
kaboutt hedesignofMI S,l etusunder standt hestrat
egi
cmanagementofa
business.Anor ganizati
onmustrespondt omar ketfor
ces,compet i
ti
on,toenvi
ronmentandto
technologicalchanges.Thescopeofbusi nessi swide,t ouchi
ngmanyf r
onts.A busi
ness,
amongot heract i
vi
ties,mustdoalong-term strategi
cplanning.Therearemanymet hodol
ogi
es
forstrategicplanning.Accor
dingtomodelpr esentedbyRober tAnthony,t
hestrat
egicpl
anni
ng
i
s one oft he maj oracti
vi
ti
es in business planning and contr
ol.The othertwo arethe

6
 managementcont
rol
andoper
ati
onal
cont
rol
.Thi
sfr
amewor
kisi
l
lust
rat
edbel
ow:

1)St
rategicPlanni
ngi st
hepr ocessofdecidi
ngobjecti
vesoftheorganizat
ion,det
ermini
ngt
he
possibl
eshi f
tinobjecti
ves,decidi
ngont heresour
cesusedtoattainthereobject
ivesandt
he
poli
ci
est hatgover
nt heacquisi
ti
on,useanddisposi
ti
onofther
eresources.

2)ManagementCont
rolist hepr
ocessbywhich managersassurethattheresourcesar
e
obtai
nedandusedef
fect
ivel
yandeff
ici
ent
lyt
oat
tai
ntheobject
ivesoft
heorgani
zat
ion.

3)Oper
ati
onalCont
roli
sthepr
ocessofassumi
ngt
hatspeci
fi
ctasksar
ecar
ri
edoutef
fect
ivel
y
andeff
ici
entl
y.

I
tisusefulto cl
assi
fytheabovedefi
nit
ionswithsomeexampl es.Thet
abl
ebel
ow gi
ves
i
nst
ancesofpl
anningandcont
rol
act
ivi
ti
esindif
fer
entf
unct
ional
areas.

7
 Anthony’
sframeworkenablesust ounder standt hecharact
eri
sti
csofinf
ormati
onneededt o
supportthethr
eetypesofpl anningandcont rolprocess.TheTabl
e2bel ow depi
ctsthese
charact
eri
sti
csandhighl
ightsthesubstantialdiff
erencesininf
ormat
ionrequi
redforst
rategi
c
planni
ng,managementcontr
ol,andoper
ational contr
ol.

8
 Letusnow l
ookatSi
mon’
sfr
amewor
kthathasbr
okendownt
hepr
ocessofdeci
sionmaki
ng
i
ntothr
eest
ages:

1.
Int
ell
igence:Thisi
sthestagei
nwhi
chthedecisi
onmakerr
ecogni
zest
hatt
her
eisapr
obl
em
oropportuni
tythatr
equi
reshimt
omakeadeci
sion.

2.Desi
gn:Thedecisi
onmakerdeter
mi nest
heal
ter
nat
ivest
hatar
eav
ail
abl
etohi
mtor
esol
ve
theprobl
em orexpl
oitt
heoppor
tuni
ty.

3.Choi
ce:Inthi
sstage,analt
ernat
ivegener
atedinstage-2issingl
edoutt
obepur
sued.The
select
ionpr
ocessmayinvol
vefeasi
bil
it
yanal
ysisorcost
-benef
itanal
ysi
s.

Wi
tht
hisf
ramewor
k,wecandi
sti
ngui
shbet
weent
hreemaj
orcl
assesofdeci
sions.

a)ProgrammedDeci si
onsarether
ei nwhichallst
agesarehandl
edbyfol
lowi
ngapresetwel
l
-
definedprocedur
e.Thedecisi
onsarerepet
iti
veandrout
inewhi
chari
seof
tenandar
ecapabl
eof
beingmodel edmathemati
call
yint
heirenti
ret
y.

Thecl
assi
cexampl
ewoul
dbei
nvent
ory
-or
der
ingdeci
sions.

b)Non-programmeddeci
sionsaredif
fi
cultt
ostruct
ureinlogical-
mathemat icalter
ms.There
decisi
onscannotbehandledinwel
l-
defi
nedandpre-
speci
fi
edpr ocedures.Ther eopport
uni
ti
es
arenotr epeti
ti
vei
nnat
ureandtheyrequi
refr
eshint
ell
i
gence,designandchoi cephasestobe
executed.Anexamplewouldbethedecisi
ontosetupanew f act
oryorl aunchanew l i
neof

9
 pr
oduct
.

c)Semi-programmeddeci sionsaret hoseinwhi chatl eastoneandnomor ethantwooft he

above st ages can be handled bywel l
-def
ined presetpr ocedures.An example wher
et he
i
ntell
igence phase is wellst r
uctur
ed would be the di ver
se kinds ofvari
ance anal
ysi
s.A
compar i
sonwi thabudgetorst andardisundertakeninawel l-
definedwaytosignalt
heneedfor
adeci sion.Subsequentst agesofdesi gn and choi ce,howev er,arenothandled byaset
procedure.

Recal
lthatanMI Ssupportprobl
em-speci
fi
cdecisi
on-making.Dependi
ngont heframewor
k
used bythe organizat
ion f
ordecisi
on-
making and goalsetforMI S,the desi
gnershoul
d
deter
minetheinfor
mat i
onneeds.

AnMI Sshouldnotaut omat etheexistingpr ocedures.MISshoul dactasacat alystofchangei n

thepr ocessesofanor ganizati
on.Fori nstance,apr iv
at ebanksanct i
onsl oansbyusi nga
sequent i
alprocess.Anappl i
cantappl i
esf oral oan,thedet ai
l
spr ovidedbyhi m arev erif
ied,and
hisappl i
cati
ondet ai
lsareent eredintot hebankappl i
cationformatal ongwi thhi scr editli
mit
.
Thecomput erappl i
cati
oni st henpassedont othel oansanct ioningaut horit
y .Thepr ocess
takest woweekst i
meev enthought hest affspendsaboutt hir
tymi nutesont heappl i
cation.A
wor kfl
ow syst em shoul
d notaut omat et heexi sti
ng process.I tshoul d ai
m t or educet he
applicati
onpr ocessi
ngt i
met olesst hanaweek.Thepr esentwor kfl
ow sy st
emsl etev eryone
l
ookatt heapplicat
ionsi multaneouslyandeachconcer nedper sonaddshi sf eedback.The
sequent i
alprocesshasbeenchangedt oapar all
elprocess.Thet otaltimehascomedownt o
l
esst hanaweek.

Accor
dingt
oZani
,thei
mpor
tantdet
ermi
nant
sofMI
Sdesi
gnar
e:

1)
Oppor
tuni
ti
esandr
isks

2)
Companyst
rat
egy

3)
Companyst
ruct
ure

4)
Managementanddeci
sion-
maki
ngpr
ocess

5)
Avai
l
abl
etechnol
ogy

6)
Avai
l
abl
einf
ormat
ionsour
ces.

An MIS should bedesi

gned,v i
ewing t
heor ganizat
ion.A company’sstr
uct
uresub-
div
ides
essent
ial tasks t
o be per f
ormed,assi gns t hem t o i
ndiv
idual
s,and spell
s out the
i
nterr
elat
ionshipsoft
hei
rt asks.Theor ganizati
onalst r
uct
ureandt hetasksdet
ermi
net he
i
nformati
onneedsofthecompany .

TheMI Sdesi
gnermustplantodeli
verreport
sinli
newitht
heorgani
zati
onstructur
e.Thismeans
thatthemaindecisi
onmaker sandt hepowercent er
smustber ecogni
zedi ntheMI S.I
fthe
decisi
on-
makingresponsi
bil
i
tiesar
eclearlydef
inedandal
locat
edintheorganizat
ion,MISmust

10
 capturethem.I
ftheorgani
zati
oncul
tur
eprovi
dessuff
ici
enti
ncent
ivesf
oref
fi
ciencyandr
esul
ts,
theMI Ssupportthi
scul t
urebyprovi
dingsuchi
nformati
on,whichwil
lai
dthepr omoti
onof
eff
iciency.

Theorgani
zati
onsystem isanopensy
stem andMISshouldbesodesi
gnedt
hati
thighl
i
ght st
he
changestotheconcernedlev
eli
ntheorgani
zat
ionsothatt
heacti
oncanbet
akentocorrectt
he
si
tuati
on.

Thedesigneroft
heMI Sshoul
dtakecar
eoft
hedataprobl
ems.Thei
nputdat
atotheMISmay
cont
ainbiasanderr
or.Thei
nputstot
heMISmustbecontr
oll
edt
oensur
eimpart
ial
i
ty,
rel
i
abi
l
ity
andconsist
ency.

Iftheor
ganizat
ioncul
tur
epr ov
idessuff
ici
enti
ncent
ivesforeff
ici
encyandr
esul
ts,t
heMI
S
shoul
dprov
ideinfor
mat
ionthatwil
lai
dthepromot
ionofeff
ici
ency
.

I
ftheor
ganizat
ioni
sanopensy st
em t
henMI
Sshoul
dbedesi
gnedt
ohi
ghl
i
ghtcr
it
icalchanges
i
nthesyst
em orini
tsenv
ironment
.

IndesigninganMISt herearetwotypesofsi t
uati
onsonemaycomeacr oss.Ift
heor gani
zation
hasnoexper i
enceofcomput i
ngapplicati
ons,whichwillcr
eatethemaxi mum i mpactont he
organizat
ion,i
tcanbei denti
fi
edbyusingZani ’
sframework.Keysuccessv ari
ablesarehowev er
seldom obt ai
nedthroughaquest i
onnairesurveyofmanager s.Dataonenv ir
onment,past
companyper f
ormancemustbeanal yzedanddi scussedtoident
if
ykeysuccessv ar
iabl
e.Itis
somet imesusefultopendownaquant i
tat
ivemeasur eofsuchv ariable.Forexampl et he
performanceofat exti
leunitcanbesummedupt hroughtwoindi
cators:contri
buti
onperl oom
shiftandf i
xedcostperl oom shi
ft
.Simi l
arl
ytheper f
ormanceofashi ppingcompanymaybe
measur edas

AnMI Sshouldnotaut omat etheexistingpr ocedures.MISshoul dactasacat alystofchangei n

thepr ocessesofanor ganizati
on.Fori nstance,apr iv
at ebanksanct i
onsl oansbyusi nga
sequent i
alprocess.Anappl i
cantappl i
esf oral oan,thedet ai
l
spr ovidedbyhi m arev erif
ied,and
hisappl i
cati
ondet ai
lsareent eredintot hebankappl i
cationformatal ongwi thhi scr editli
mit
.
Thecomput erappl i
cati
oni st henpassedont othel oansanct ioningaut horit
y .Thepr ocess
takest woweekst i
meev enthought hest affspendsaboutt hir
tymi nutesont heappl i
cation.A
wor kfl
ow syst em shoul
d notaut omat et heexi sti
ng process.I tshoul d ai
m t or educet he
applicati
onpr ocessi
ngt i
met olesst hanaweek.Thepr esentwor kfl
ow sy st
emsl etev eryone
l
ookatt heapplicat
ionsi multaneouslyandeachconcer nedper sonaddshi sf eedback.The
sequent i
alprocesshasbeenchangedt oapar all
elprocess.Thet otaltimehascomedownt o
l
esst hanaweek.

Accor
dingt
oZani
,thei
mpor
tantdet
ermi
nant
sofMI
Sdesi
gnar
e:

1)
Oppor
tuni
ti
esandr
isks

2)
Companyst
rat
egy

3)
Companyst
ruct
ure

11
 4)
Managementanddeci
sion-
maki
ngpr
ocess

5)
Avai
l
abl
etechnol
ogy

6)
Avai
l
abl
einf
ormat
ionsour
ces.

An MIS should bedesi

gned,v i
ewing t
heor ganizat
ion.A company’sstr
uct
uresub-
div
ides
essent
ial tasks t
o be per f
ormed,assi gns t hem t o i
ndiv
idual
s,and spell
s out the
i
nterr
elat
ionshipsoft
hei
rt asks.Theor ganizati
onalst r
uct
ureandt hetasksdet
ermi
net he
i
nformati
onneedsofthecompany .

TheMI Sdesi
gnermustpl antodeli
verreport
sinli
newitht heorganizati
onstructur
e.Thismeans
thatthemai ndeci si
onmaker sandt hepowercent er
smustber ecognizedi ntheMI S.Ift
he
decision-
makingr esponsibil
it
iesar
eclearlydef
inedandal locat
edint heorganizat
ion,MISmust
capturethem.Iftheor ganizat
ioncul
tureprovi
dessuffi
cientincent
ivesforeffici
encyandresul
ts,
theMI Ssupportt hi
scul tur
ebypr ovidi
ngsuchi nf
ormat ion,whichwi l
laidt hepromot i
onof
effi
ciency.

Theorgani
zati
onsystem isanopensy
stem andMISshouldbesodesi
gnedt
hati
thighl
i
ght st
he
changestotheconcernedlev
eli
ntheorgani
zat
ionsothatt
heacti
oncanbet
akentocorrectt
he
si
tuati
on.

Thedesigneroft
heMI Sshoul
dtakecar
eoft
hedataprobl
ems.Thei
nputdat
atotheMISmay
cont
ainbiasanderr
or.Thei
nputstot
heMISmustbecontr
oll
edt
oensur
eimpart
ial
i
ty,
rel
i
abi
l
ity
andconsist
ency.

Iftheor
ganizat
ioncul
tur
epr ov
idessuff
ici
enti
ncent
ivesforeff
ici
encyandr
esul
ts,t
heMI
S
shoul
dprov
ideinfor
mat
ionthatwil
lai
dthepromot
ionofeff
ici
ency
.

I
ftheor
ganizat
ioni
sanopensy st
em t
henMI
Sshoul
dbedesi
gnedt
ohi
ghl
i
ghtcr
it
icalchanges
i
nthesyst
em orini
tsenv
ironment
.

IndesigninganMISt herearetwotypesofsi t
uati
onsonemaycomeacr oss.Ift
heor gani
zation
hasnoexper i
enceofcomput i
ngapplicati
ons,whichwillcr
eatethemaxi mum i mpactont he
organizat
ion,i
tcanbei denti
fi
edbyusingZani ’
sframework.Keysuccessv ari
ablesarehowev er
seldom obt ai
nedthroughaquest i
onnairesurveyofmanager s.Dataonenv ir
onment,past
companyper f
ormancemustbeanal yzedanddi scussedtoident
if
ykeysuccessv ar
iabl
e.Itis
somet imesusefultopendownaquant i
tat
ivemeasur eofsuchv ariable.Forexampl et he
performanceofat exti
leunitcanbesummedupt hroughtwoindi
cators:contri
buti
onperl oom
shiftandf i
xedcostperl oom shi
ft
.Simi l
arl
ytheper f
ormanceofashi ppingcompanymaybe
measur edas

12
 Q3.“I
n Human Resource Management
,t he Per
sonnelManagerhas the responsibi
li
tyof
executi
ngmult
ifar
iousacti
vit
iesper
tai
ningtor ecr
uit
ment
,trai
ningoftheempl oyeesetc”
.
Explai
nthev
ari
oussubsystemsofHumanResour ceManagementinthel
ightofthest at
ement.

Ans:

I
deall
yt her
eare9subsyst
emsofHumanResourceManagement
.Andt
hesesubsyst
emsstem
f
rom t he compet
ency-
based human r
esour
ce managementt
hatwoul
dr evol
uti
oni
ze any
workpl
ace.

Human ResourcePl anni

ng:Thebasicofanyor gani
zation and businesshousei sHuman
Resourcepl
anning.TheHRPl anni
ngcompr isesofdet ai
ledcour seofact iontoestabli
sht he
requi
rement
sofHRdepar t
mentint
henearfuture.Withthebasi cobjectofcreat
ingatalentpool
ofeli
gibl
ecandi
dateswi t
hamplequal
if
icati
onsandski l
lsr equir
edbyanor gani
zati
on.Thei dea
i
st obri
dgeandmat chthedemand-
supplygapbet weenthei dealcandidat
eandpr ospecti
vehire.

CareerPlanning:Anempl oyee’
sgrowthinanor gani
zat
ionwouldbeofpr imeimpor t
ancetoan
empl oyeeaswel lasanor gani
zat
ion.Asthat’
swhathelpsintal
entretenti
ononamaj orscal e.
Whenanempl oyeeknowst hatthereareoptionsofgrowthandl earningthroughconst ant
trai
ningandot herlear
ningdevel
opment,heorshewoul dbefull
ydedicatedtotheorganization
andwoul dplant hecareeri
nawayt hatwouldhelpbothhi
mselfandthecompanyhei swor king
for.

Rol
eAnal y
sis:Assi
gningr ol
esaspert heempl oyees’capabili
ti
esandabi l
i
tiesalsoformt he
majorsubsystem ofHRM.Whi l
eanempl oy
eecoul dplaymul t
iplerol
es,itbecomesqui te
i
mportantfortheHumanResour ceorTalentManagementt oknowwhet herthepersonwoul d
beabletodojusti
cetother ol
eornot.Assessingthebehaviorandat t
it
udeofanempl oyeealso
comesunderroleanal
ysis.HavingsetKRAswoul dhelpi
nav oidi
ngr ol
econfl
i
ct si
nemployees.

Procurementand Pl acement:One oft he impor

tantofsubsy st
emsofHRM,pr ocurement
i
ncludesscr eening,short
li
sti
ng,andr ecr
uiti
ngacandidate.Thebasicpr ocesst hroughwhi ch
vacanciesaref i
ll
edinanor gani
zati
on.Placementisaprocessofassigningsuitablejobsasper
thei
rcalibertotheprocuredcandidat
es.Placemental
soinvolveshi
ri
ngt herightpersonf orajob
andav oidi
ngt hecostofwronghire.

Counsell
i
ng:HRandcounsel li
nggoal ongbackint i
me.Counselli
ngiswher ewhileempl oyees
sharetheirgri
evancesbot hpersonalandpr of
essionalwiththeHRManagement .Theopen
communi cat
ionchannel sbetweenempl oy
eeandHRmanager shelpsi nreduci
ngempl oyee
tur
nover,absenteeism,t ardi
ness.And hel ps i
n st r
engtheni
ng empl oyee and empl oyer
rel
ati
onship,understandi
ng thepr obl
emsofj uniorsand senior
st herebyfacil
it
ati
ng bet t
er
communi cat
ionandef f
ecti
vedecisionmaki ng.Counsell
inghelpsempl oyeesunderstandt he
str
engthsandweaknessesandhel pthem overcomet heprobl
emsar i
singoutofthei
rignorance.

Traini
ng:Trai
ninghelpsinanemployee’
sgrowth,asi
tensuresthatanorgani
zati
onisinvest
ed
i
nanempl oyee.Tr
aininghel
psemployeestost
ayabreastwit
hallthel
atestt
ools,pr
act
icesand
technologyrel
evanttohisfiel
d.Whil
et hecur
rentscenar
iofortrai
ningemployeesisderiv
ed

13
 f
rom thedr
oppi ngperf
ormancesofemployees,
itisadvisabl
enottowaitthatl
ongfori
nit
iat
ing
t
rai
ning.Tr
ainingshouldnotbeseenasacosti ncurr
edbutr at
heraninvestmentandshould
i
ncl
ude–i ncreasingski
ll
s,concept
s,at
ti
tudesforincr
easingeff
ecti
venessindoingaspecifi
c
j
oborjobs.

Rewar ds:Rewar dingempl oyeesforthei

rexcel
lentprofessi
onalperformanceov erandabov e
thei
rusual wagesandsalar i
esboostupthei
rmor al
eandencour ageothersaswell t
owor khar
d.
Rewar dsy stemsar eanot
hersubsy st
em ofHRM, whichhelpsi
nencour agi
ngempl oyeestoseek
self
-development .Consideredasoneoft hequickestwayt oi ncr
easepr oductiv
ity
,reward
system act sasamot ivat
ionalfact
ortoperf
orm abovethei
rpar.

Pot
enti
alApprai
sal:Theobjectofpotenti
alapprai
salistodev el
oplatentabil
it
iesofindiv
iduals.
Pot
enti
alapprai
salprov
idesv i
tali
nfor
mat i
onaboutindivi
dualstopreparecareerplansforthem.
Pot
enti
alapprai
saleval
uatestheleadershi
pabili
ti
esandpot enti
alsoftheindivi
duals.I
tensures
agoodmat chbetweenempl oyee’
spotenti
alsandthejob.

Organizati
onalDev elopment:Organizati
onalDev elopment tal
ks about changing beli
efs,
atti
tudes,v al
uesandstruct
ureoforganizat
ions,sot hattheyarebett
erequippedtoadaptnew
technologies,marketsandchall
enges.Or ganizat
ioni sanopensy stem andtheref
oremust
developitselfbyadopti
ngvari
ouschangest omeett hechall
engesthr
ownoutbyt heconstantl
y
changingenv ir
onment.

Q4.“
Theemer genceofaglobaleconomyhassti
mulat
edworl
dwi
dei
nter
esti
nachi
evi
ng
qual
it
y”.Expl
ainhowqual
i
tycanbeensur
edwi
thi
nfor
mati
onsy
stem.

Ans:

Theemer
genceofagl
obal
economyhasst
imul
atedwor
ldwi
dei
nter
esti
nachi
evi
ngqual
i
ty

Fory out or
unasuccessf ulbusiness,youneedt oinvesti nhigh-quali
tyi
nformati
onsy stems
thatwi llsimplif
y processing data and st at
ist
ics,eitheror ganizat
ionalorf i
nancial
.Most
compani eshaveexperienceddatapr obl
emscausedbyl ackofaccur acyandreli
abil
i
ty,andasa
result,t
hewor kfl
owsl owsdown.Thepr imar ygoalforallcompani esist or
educehumaner rors
andi ncreaseeffi
ciency.Tobeabl etoachi evesuchgoals, yourcompanyhast ogetanex cell
ent
i
nf ormationsystem.Int hi
sarti
cle,youwilllear
nthediff
er enceani nformati
onsystem canmake
toy ourbusiness.

1.Or
gani
zeddat
a

Abril
li
antorgani
zati
onisvi
talforanycompanyt hatistryingt obesuccessf ul.Theacquisi
ti
onof
agreatinf
ormati
onsy st
em ensuresthatyourbusinesswi llbeor ganized,andy ouwil
lbeableto
makedecisionsandsolveproblemsfaster.Theadv antagei sthattheempl oy eeswil
lbeableto
gai
naccesst oallt
heinf
ormationandasar esul
t,i
mpr ovet heirproductiv
ity.Agoodinformati
on

14
 system hasaManagementI nfor
mati
onSy st
em (MI
S)feature,whi
chhel
psi norganizi
ngy our
database.TheMIScanofferyoupast
,curr
entandpr
esentinfor
mati
onbyusingallresourcesin
thesy st
em.Ifyourbusinesslacksproperdataor
ganizati
on,youar
elikelytohav esev ere
problemsandalotofusel
essdata.

2.Av
oidanyf
orm ofcr
isi
s

Inthepast ,busi
nessescoul
dnotanal yzethesharemar ketandt heirleveloforganizati
on.Asa
resul
t,therewasal otofcr
isi
sint hebusi nesssector.Maki nguseofani nformat i
onsy st
em
enablesy ourcompanyt oanaly
zest ocksandcheckont hei
rpreviousper f
ormancet opr edi
ct
anyform ofdi sast
er.TheMIScankeept rackofallmar ginsandpr of
it
ssot haty ourbusiness
canhav eallthenecessar
ydataforanti
cipatingandinvadi ngacr i
sis.

3.St
orageofi
nfor
mat
ion

Infor
mat i
onsy st
emsar econvenientbecauset heycanhelpy oustoredat athaty
ouwi llneedina
fewy earstocome.Forexampl e,newspaperedi t
ingcompanieskeept hei
rphotossaf elyinan
archi
vewhi chcanbeopenedt or evealpi
cturesifneedbe.Sav ingyourdat amanuallyusinghar d
copymeanswi l
lwast ealotoft i
mesi ncesear chi
ngf orsomethingwi l
lbehect ic.A good
i
nformat i
onsy st
em groupsyourdat aaccordingt odateandtime,maki ngthesearchingpr ocess
convenient.Alli
nfor
mat i
onisstoredinacompr ehensi
vedatabaset hatisaccessibl
et oy ou24
hoursaday .

4.Easydeci
sionmaki
ng

Withoutaf unctionalinformati
onsy stem,thedeci sion-
makingpr ocesswastessomucht ime
andener gy .Thedeci sionsandst rategicplansmadebyt hemanagementofanor gani zati
on
di
ct at
ethel evelofsuccess.Themanagementofy ourcompanycanusei nfor
mat i
onsy stemst o
comeupwi thstrategi
cpl ansandmakebestdeci si
onswheni tcomest otaki
ngbusinessst eps.
Agoodi nf ormationsy st
em evaluatesi nfor
mat ionfrom allt
hecompany ’
ssourcesandmanages
to comeupwi tht hebestconcl usioni nr egardst othecur r
enteconomy .A deci sionl ike
purchasingper formanceappr aisalsof twarewoul dbeagoodonef oranycompanybecausei t
willhelpi nmot ivati
ngy ourempl oy eesandasar esul
t,t
heywi llbecomemor eef f
icientand
producti
v e.Ifyoudonotdot hat,y ouwi l
lwast et i
meandener gymaki ngdecisi
onst hatmay
messupy ourbrand.

5.Yougetabet
terper
spect
iveont
hef
utur
eofy
ourbusi
ness

Asacompanymanager ,y ouhav etoest abli

shbroadper spectivesusi nganexcel lentMI S.The
MIScanassessy ourcompany ’sor ganizat
ionandcomeupwi theasi erwaysofanal yzing
processest hatar eindependent.Themai ngoalisnormal lyproduci nghi gh-qual
it
ypr oductsand
services.Fory ourcompanyt obeabl etocompet ewi t
hot hercompani esi nthesamei ndustry
,
ensur ey oui nvestinawel l
-designed infor
mationsy stem.Byi ncorpor ati
ng ani nformation
system,y ouwi llgetregularupdatesont hebusinesstrends.Ther ef or
e,y ouwi l
lnotwast et i
me
worki ngont hingsthatarenotusef ul.Yourfocuswillbet hemai ngoalt hatwil
lbringbusi ness
success.

15
 Q5.
“Metadat
ain adatawarehousei ssi
mil
artothedatadi
cti
onar
yint
hecont
extofa
dat
abase”Commentandexpl
ainvar
ioust
ypesofmet
adat
ainbr
ief
.

Ans:

Met adat
aissimpl ydefi
nedasdataaboutdata.Thedatathatisusedtorepresentot
herdat
ais
knownasmet adata.Forexampl
e,theindexofabookser v
esasamet adataforthecont
ent
sin
thebook.Inot herwords,wecansayt hatmetadat
ai st
hesummar i
zeddatat hatl
eadsusto
detail
eddata.I
nt ermsofdatawarehouse,wecandefinemetadataasfol
lows.

 Met
adat
aist
her
oad-
mapt
oadat
awar
ehouse.

 Met
adat
ainadat
awar
ehousedef
inest
hewar
ehouseobj
ect
s.

 Met
adat
aactsasadir
ect
ory.Thisdi
rect
oryhel
pst
hedeci
sionsuppor
tsy
stem t
olocat
e
t
hecont
ent
sofadatawarehouse.

Inadat awarehouse,wecr eat

emet adatafort
hedatanamesanddefi
nit
ionsofagivendata
warehouse.Alongwiththi
smetadata,addi
ti
onalmet
adat
aisal
socr
eatedforti
me-
stampingany
ext
racteddata,thesour
ceofextract
eddata.

Var
ioust
ypesofmet
adat
a

St
ruct
ural
Met
adat
a

Let’
sst artwiththebasics.Structur
almetadatai sdat athatindicateshow adi gi
talassetis
organized,suchashowpagesi nabookar eorgani zedt oform chapters,orthenotesthatmake
upanot ebookinEvernoteorOneNot e.St
ructuralmet adat
aalsoi ndicateswhetherapar t
icul
ar
asseti spartofasi nglecoll
ectionormul t
iplecol lecti
onsandf acil
itatesthenavigat
ionand
presentati
onofinfor
mat i
oninanel ect
roni
cresour ce.Exampl esinclude:

 Pagenumber
s

 Sect
ions

 Chapt
ers

 I
ndexes

 Tabl
eofcont
ent
s

Beyondbasicorganizati
on,str
uctur
almetadat
ai st hekeyt odocumenti
ngtherel
ati
onshi
p
bet
weent woassets.Forexample,
it’
susedtoi
ndicatethataspeci
ficst
ockphot
owasusedina
par
ticul
arsal
esbrochure,ort
hatoneasseti
saraw, unedit
edversi
onofanot
her.

16
 Admi
nist
rat
iveMet
adat
a

Administ
rati
vemet adatarel
atestothetechnicalsourceofadigitalasset
.Iti
ncl
udesdatasuch
asthef i
letype,aswel laswhenandhow t heassetwascr eated.Thisisalsothetypeof
metadatathatrel
atest ousager i
ghtsandi ntel
lect
ualpropert
y,providi
nginf
ormati
onsuchas
theownerofanasset ,whereandhow i tcanbeused,andt hedur at
ionadigit
alassetcanbe
usedforthoseall
owabl epurposesunderthecurrentl
icense.

The Nati
onalI
nformati
on Standar
ds Or
gani
zat
ion (
NISO) act
ual
l
y br
eaks admi
nist
rat
ive
metadat
adownint
ot hr
eesub-
types:

 Techni
cal
Met
adat
a–I
nfor
mat
ionnecessar
yfordecodi
ngandr
ender
ingf
il
es

 Pr
eser
vat
ionMetadata– I
nfor
mat
ionnecessar
yfort
hel
ong-
ter
m managementand
ar
chi
vi
ngofdi
git
alasset
s

 Ri
ght
sMet
adat
a–I
nfor
mat
ionper
tai
ningt
oint
ell
ect
ual
proper
tyandusager
ight
s

ACreati
veCommonsl icense,forinstance,i
sadministrat
ivemetadata.Otherexamplesinclude
thedateadigit
alassetwascr eated,andf orphotos,administ
rati
vedat ami ghti
ncludet he
cameramodelusedtot aket hephot o,li
ghtsour
ce,andr esol
uti
on.I naddit
ion,admini
strati
ve
metadat
aisusedtoindicatewhocanaccessadi gitalasset
,thekeyt oeffecti
vepermissions
managementinaDAM sy stem.

Descr
ipt
iveMet
adat
a

Descri
pti
vemet adat
ai sessent i
alfordiscover
ingandi denti
fyingassets.Why ?It’
si nf
ormati
on
thatdescri
bestheasset ,suchast heasset ’
st i
tl
e,author,andr el
evantkey words.Descri
ptive
metadataiswhatal l
owsy out olocateabooki napar ti
culargenrepublishedaf ter2016,for
i
nstance,asabook’smet adat
awoul dincludebothgenreandpubl i
cati
ondat e.I
nf act,
theISBN
system i
sagoodexampl eofanear lyeff
orttousemet adatat ocentr
ali
zeinformationandmake
i
teasiertolocat
eresources( i
nthiscase,booksinat r
aditi
onal l
ibr
ary)
.

Essent
ial
l
y,descri
pti
vemet adat
ai ncl
udesanyinfor
mationdescr
ibi
ngt heassetthatcanbe
usedforl
ateri
dent
ifi
cat
ionanddiscovery
.Accor
dingtoCornel
lUni
ver
sit
y,thi
sincl
udes:

 Uni
quei
dent
if
ier
s(suchasanI
SBN)

 Phy
sical
att
ri
but
es(
suchasf
il
edi
mensi
onsorPant
onecol
ors)

 Bi
bli
ogr
aphi
cat
tri
but
es(
suchast
heaut
hororcr
eat
or,
tit
le,
andkey
wor
ds)

Descr
ipt
ivemetadatacanbethemostrobustofal
lthet
ypesofmet adat
a,simplybecausethere
aremanyway st odescri
beanasset.Wheni mpl
ementi
ngaDAM sol ut
ion,standar
dizi
ngt he
speci
fi
cattr
ibutesusedt odescr
ibeyourasset
sandhow t hey
’redocument edist hekeyt o
str
eamli
neddiscover
abil
i
ty.

17
18