D1 – Business Information Management

D1-BUSINESS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

This Paper introduces students to the wider concepts of business information management, knowledge management systems, e-commerce, designing information systems and evaluating information systems.

Objectives

On completion of this paper, the student should be able to:

1. Identify the information requirements of different levels of management and explain how information is used to support the objectives of an organisation,
2. Identify and apply methods of organizing and accounting for information systems delivery and information systems projects,
3. Explain the approaches for specification of user and system requirements,
4. Identify and explain the impact of the development of information systems on the organisation and its environment,
5. Explain how information systems are implemented and the approaches to monitoring and evaluation.

Structure of the examination paper

There shall be a three hour examination consisting of four (4) compulsory questions of twentyfive (25) marks each. Candidates will be allowed fifteen minutes’ reading and planning time.

Detailed syllabus

• UNIT1 - ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION

• Element 1: Business Strategy and IS/IT
• Element 2: IS and the strategic Planning process
• Element 3: IS and competitive position
• Element 4: Levels of Management and their information requirements
• Element 5: The organisation and information management
• Element 6: Types of information system - (strategic information systems, management information systems, transaction processing systems, decision support systems, knowledge work systems and office automation systems)

• UNIT 2 - MANAGING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

• Element 1: Organizational and accounting issues in delivering information systems
• Element 2: Structural issues in delivering information systems
• Element 3: Feasibility study
• Element 4: Project initiation and planning
• Element 5: Project monitoring and control
• Element 6: Software support for project management

• UNIT 3 - DESIGNING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

• Element 1: IS development process
• Element 2: Investigating and recording user requirements
• Element 3: Documenting and modeling user requirements
• Element 4: Developing a solution to fulfill user requirements
• Element 5: External design and software package selection

• UNIT 4 - KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

• Element 1: Knowledge distribution through office automation systems
• Element 2: Knowledge sharing through group collaboration systems
• Element 3: Knowledge creation and knowledge work systems
• Element 4: Knowledge capturing and codifying and artificial intelligence
• Element 5: Database management systems
• Element 6: Data mining and data warehousing

• UNIT 5 - IMPACT OF IT ON WORK PRACTICES

• Element 1: Design of critical success factors
• Element 2: Identifying sources of data capture
• Element 3: Measuring performance
• Element 4: Effect on employee/employer relationships

• UNIT 6 - ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

• Element 1: Business impact of the internet – the virtual company
• Element 2: Intranets and extranets
• Element 3: The internet as a system
• Element 4: Integration of the internet with existing systems
• Element 5: The Impact of E-Commerce on Taxation

• UNIT 7 - EVALUATING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

• Element 1: Technical information system requirements
• Element 2: Implementing security and legal requirements
• Element 3: Quality assurance in systems management and development
• Element 4: Systems and user acceptance testing
• Element 5: System implementation issues and methods
• Element 6: Post implementation matters
• Element 7: Information systems maintenance and change