Business Information Systems

1. INFORMATION SYSTEMS: Introduction; Decisions; Value of information; The idea of a system; Management information systems; Informal and formal information. 2. STRATEGY AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS: The need for a business strategy; Business strategic planning; Business information systems strategy; Information systems strategy today. 3. BUSINESS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Historical development of computing technology; Hardware; Software. 4. DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS, NETWORKS AND THE ORGANIZATION: Networks and distributed systems; The idea of a distributed system; Organizational benefits of distributed systems; Organizational levels and distributed systems; The extent of distribution; The distribution of data; Networks and communications; Standards; Electronic data interchange; The effects of the Internet on business. 5 BUSINESS, THE WORLD WIDE WEB, AND THE INTERNET: The evolution of the Internet; How the Internet works; What the Internet offers; The World Wide Web; The Internet and copyright; The Internet and financial transactions; Intranets and Extranets. 6 ELECTRONIC COMMERCE AND BUSINESS: A brief introduction to E-Commerce; Key features of E-Commerce; Conducting business over the Internet; Trade cycles and E-Commerce; E-Commerce Business Models; The development and management of a business website; Trends in E-Commerce. 7. DECISION SUPPORT AND END-USER COMPUTING: Features of decision support systems; Types of decision support system; The development of decision support systems; Group decision support; End-user computing; Human computer interaction. 8. FILE ORGANIZATION AND DATABASES FOR BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS: Files and file structures; Records and record structure; Physical and logical views of data; Data storage files, records and lists; File-based and database approaches to data storage; A three-level architecture for databases; Models and schemas; Network models; Hierarchical; Relational models; Object-oriented databases; Microcomputer databases; Data warehouses. 9. CONTROL IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS: Control systems; Controls over computerized information systems; Data protection legislation; Risk identification and controls. 10. INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT: AN OVERVIEW: The need for systems analysis and design; The need for a structured approach to analysis and design; The life cycle of a system; The structured approach and the life cycle. 11. THE SYSTEMS PROJECT: EARLY STAGES: Initial stages; Statement of scope and objectives; Systems investigation; The feasibility study and report. 12. PROCESS ANALYSIS AND MODELLING: Systems analysis; Manual systems flowcharts; Data flow diagrams; Data dictionaries; Decision tables; Logic; Structured English. 13. DATA ANALYSIS AND MODELLING: Top-down versus bottom-up approaches to data modeling; Entity relationship modeling; Data analysis and modelling an overview of the method; Process modelling and data modelling the links. 14. SYSTEMS DESIGN: The transition from analysis to design; Suggesting alternative designs; Automation boundaries; Walkthroughs and formal reviews. 15. DETAILED DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION AND REVIEW: Detailed design; Systems specification; Implementation; Systems changeover; Evaluation and maintenance. 16. SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT: FURTHER TOOLS, TECHNIQUES AND ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES: Computer Aided Software Engineering; Rapid Applications Development; Object-oriented approaches to analysis and design; An evaluation of hard approaches to systems analysis and design; Soft approaches to systems analysis and design; Current usage of methodologies and techniques 17. EXPERT SYSTEMS AND KNOWLEDGE BASES: Expert systems architecture; Representation of knowledge; Drawing inferences; Intelligence and the internet.