Management Information Systems and Decision Support Systems are integral parts to the ever changing business world. Now that technology has gripped companies and won’t let go, they need to keep pace with the ways that these new innovations and systems can aid their business. Management Information Systems encompass three main groups: decision support systems, expert systems, and executive information systems. [1] The primary function is to analyze the activities within an organization. They produce reports based on the data to identify any problems within the business. This allows companies to know their potential weaknesses and attempt to fix them. It can also show any data trends in customers which can also help the company improve their revenue. One example of this can be a store asking for your zip code at check-out, this way, they can gather data, and using this data, can identify what people in the area are buying and how much they are spending. This can in turn improve the inventory to fit what that areas customers may need, as opposed to a store in a different area.
Decision Support Systems are interactive computer systems that help decision makers in companies communicate, use data, analyze documents, and use other knowledge to solve problems. [2] Simply put, as the name implies, they are any system that helps the user solve and analyze a problem. They can use databases, models, and charts to display important information and assist in making decisions. Often times they are very user friendly, further improving the usefulness within a business. In days when money is tight and anything can be of assistance to businesses, Decision Support Systems are key components of the modern day workplace.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Management_information_system
2.Dssresources.com
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Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Decision Making Systems
Decision support systems are organized collections of information, people, software, procedures, and other devices that are used to make decisions to solve problems. They allow businesses to have a known structure to solve issues and problems, which would save money and time for the company. Our text used the example of TurboRouter, which is a support system for shipping developed in Norway that reduces shipping costs and cuts emissions on merchant ships. It uses effective scheduling and management to save as much money as possible for shipping, which can get very expensive. There are many types of decision support systems, including Group Support Systems, which use collaboration to solve problems and make decisions.
Group Support Systems are used so that people in the workplace can use networks and computers to work together to solve problems, usually so that they do not have to be in the same place at the same time. They provide for a more hands on approach to problem solving and work cooperation than Computer Supported Cooperative Work, which focus more on general communication support. [1]
Group support systems have the same benefits as Decision Support Systems in general, however, they also provide much more. It allows for communication between parties who may not have been able to communicate without the software and systems. Since people would not have to travel around the country or world to go to meetings to work together, employees at different branches of a business or in different businesses can collaborate, travel costs are greatly cut down. This saves the business money and time lost, both very important things these days, since money needs to be saved anywhere it can.[2] If I could conduct a meeting or solve a problem with someone in Los Angeles over the internet instead of spending the time and money to fly there, I know I certainly would choose the Group Support System.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_decision_support_systems
[2] www.terry.uga.edu/~hwatson/Group%20Support%20Systems1.ppt
Group Support Systems are used so that people in the workplace can use networks and computers to work together to solve problems, usually so that they do not have to be in the same place at the same time. They provide for a more hands on approach to problem solving and work cooperation than Computer Supported Cooperative Work, which focus more on general communication support. [1]
Group support systems have the same benefits as Decision Support Systems in general, however, they also provide much more. It allows for communication between parties who may not have been able to communicate without the software and systems. Since people would not have to travel around the country or world to go to meetings to work together, employees at different branches of a business or in different businesses can collaborate, travel costs are greatly cut down. This saves the business money and time lost, both very important things these days, since money needs to be saved anywhere it can.[2] If I could conduct a meeting or solve a problem with someone in Los Angeles over the internet instead of spending the time and money to fly there, I know I certainly would choose the Group Support System.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_decision_support_systems
[2] www.terry.uga.edu/~hwatson/Group%20Support%20Systems1.ppt
Monday, November 7, 2011
Online Advertising, AdSense, and AdSense Fraud
Online advertising has been huge in the past few years because of the growth in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Much of the revenue that comes from websites is because of advertising. Realizing that people who browse the web is a huge, largely untapped market, many companies have started to pour lots of money into online advertising. While many companies will advertise on larger websites directly, such as WalMart advertising on Yahoo, they also want to be able to advertise on smaller websites, such as individual blogs. Google Adsense makes advertising on smaller websites possible, without the larger companies having to sort through which ones to advertise on.
To show the potential revenue that online advertising creates, I will use Yahoo as an example. Yahoo took in $1.23 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2011. This may sound like a lot, but this was a 23% drop from a year earlier. Since online advertising is getting so big, it is amazing how the revenue for a major search engine can drop so much. Many advertisers are switching to Facebook and Google since they offer larger markets to reach. They anticipate that Facebook will overtake Yahoo this year for online advertisement revenue, with Facebook making $2.2 billion and Yahoo bringing in $1.6 billion.[1]
Google offers AdSense to its users, which allows customers to place ads on their websites for various companies. Once your website is approved for AdSense, you can start earning money instantly. The money you earn depends on page views and click through to the sites of the advertisers. If you have 100 page views, and 50 people click through to the advertiser’s sites, you have a 50% CTR, which helps determine how much revenue you can earn. Users can also determine what websites appear on the site, in order to weed out any sites that you may find objectionable. For example, my blog has advertisements for Blockbuster and NetFlix, because I mention them in my blogs. However, if I did not want to show these ads, I would be able to filter what can be shown.[2]
With all of the potential for revenue to individual users, the potential for fraud is also great using AdSense. The most common is Click-Fraud. This is when click-throughs are earned through fraudulent means, such as clicking on your own links or having others do so for you. Google is able to track information of the clickers, which makes it very easy to catch fraudulent activities. If a user is caught with fraudulent activity on their AdSense account, they can be banned. While there is much contention to whether it is fraud, since if you are on a college network the same IP shows for all users, Google may still ban you do to unusual activity. AdSense must be used with caution and fraud must be avoided if you want to consider using this great revenue earner. [3]
1. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-07-20-yahoo-bartz_n.htm
2. https://www.google.com/adsense/www/en_US/tour/index.html
3. http://www.usakpedia.org/prevent-adsense-fraud-to-avoid-getting-banned-by-google.php
To show the potential revenue that online advertising creates, I will use Yahoo as an example. Yahoo took in $1.23 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2011. This may sound like a lot, but this was a 23% drop from a year earlier. Since online advertising is getting so big, it is amazing how the revenue for a major search engine can drop so much. Many advertisers are switching to Facebook and Google since they offer larger markets to reach. They anticipate that Facebook will overtake Yahoo this year for online advertisement revenue, with Facebook making $2.2 billion and Yahoo bringing in $1.6 billion.[1]
Google offers AdSense to its users, which allows customers to place ads on their websites for various companies. Once your website is approved for AdSense, you can start earning money instantly. The money you earn depends on page views and click through to the sites of the advertisers. If you have 100 page views, and 50 people click through to the advertiser’s sites, you have a 50% CTR, which helps determine how much revenue you can earn. Users can also determine what websites appear on the site, in order to weed out any sites that you may find objectionable. For example, my blog has advertisements for Blockbuster and NetFlix, because I mention them in my blogs. However, if I did not want to show these ads, I would be able to filter what can be shown.[2]
With all of the potential for revenue to individual users, the potential for fraud is also great using AdSense. The most common is Click-Fraud. This is when click-throughs are earned through fraudulent means, such as clicking on your own links or having others do so for you. Google is able to track information of the clickers, which makes it very easy to catch fraudulent activities. If a user is caught with fraudulent activity on their AdSense account, they can be banned. While there is much contention to whether it is fraud, since if you are on a college network the same IP shows for all users, Google may still ban you do to unusual activity. AdSense must be used with caution and fraud must be avoided if you want to consider using this great revenue earner. [3]
1. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-07-20-yahoo-bartz_n.htm
2. https://www.google.com/adsense/www/en_US/tour/index.html
3. http://www.usakpedia.org/prevent-adsense-fraud-to-avoid-getting-banned-by-google.php
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