Page 289 - Using MIS

Q3 How Do Information Systems Eliminate the Problems of Information Silos? 257
How Can Information Systems Improve Process Quality?

Information systems can be used to improve process quality by:

• Performing an activity.
• Augmenting a human who is performing an activity.
• Controlling data quality and process flow.

Performing an Activity

Information systems can perform the entirety of a process activity. In Figure 7-1, for example,
the check credit activity could be entirely automated. When you purchase from Amazon or
another major online retailer, information systems check your credit while your transaction is
being processed. AllRoad Parts can sell its new 3D printing design products by automating the
process of delivering purchased designs. Such a change will reduce operations and shipping
costs and likely improve process efficiency.

Augmenting a Human Performing an Activity
A second way that information systems can improve process quality is by augmenting the ac-
tions of a human who is performing that activity. Consider the process of managing patient
appointments. To schedule an appointment, patients call the doctor’s office and talk with a
receptionist who uses an appointment information system. That information system augments
the appointment creation activity.

Controlling Data Quality Process Flow

A third way that information systems can improve process quality is by controlling data quality
and process flow.
One of the major benefits of information systems is to control data quality. The IS can not
only ensure that correct data values are being input, it can also ensure that data are complete
before continuing process activities. The cheapest way to correct for data errors is at the source,
and it avoids the problems that develop when process activities are begun with incomplete data.
Information systems also have a role in controlling process flow. Consider the order ap-
proval process in Figure 7-1. If this process is controlled manually, then someone, say a sales-
person, will obtain the order data from the customer and take whatever actions are needed to
push that order through the three steps in the order process. If the salesperson gets busy or is
distracted or away from work for a few days, or if there are unexpected delays in one of the ac-
tivities, it is possible for an order to be lost or the approval unnecessarily delayed.
If, however, an information system is controlling the order approval process, then it can
ensure that steps are performed in accordance with an established schedule. The information
system can also be relied upon to make correct process-routing decisions for processes that are
more complicated than that in Figure 7-1. SharePoint workflows, discussed in the context of col-
laboration in Chapter 2, can be used to automate structured processes.

Q3 How Do Information Systems Eliminate

the Problems of Information Silos?

An information silo is the condition that exists when data are isolated in separated information
systems. For example, consider the six workgroups and their information systems in Figure 7-3.
Reflect on these information systems for a moment and you’ll realize that each one processes