Feedback and Control

The system concept becomes even more useful by including two additional components: feedback and control. A system with feedback and control components is sometimes called a cybernetic system, that is, a self-monitoring, self-regulating system.

• Fedback is data about the performance of a system. For example, data about sales performance is feedback to a sales manager.
• Control involves monitoring and evaluating feedback to determine whether a system is moving toward the achievement  of its goal. The control function then makes necessary adjustment to a system's input and processing components to ensure that it produces proper output. For example, a sales manager exercises control when he or she reassigns salespersons to new sales territories after evaluating feedback about their sales performance.

Components of an Information System. An information system depends on the resources of people (end-user and IS Specialist), hardware (machines and media), software (programs and procedures), data (data and knowledge bases), and networks (communications media and network support) to perform input, processing, output, storage, and control activities that convert data resources into information products.
Trend in Information System. Until the 1960s, the role of information system was simple: transaction processing, record-keeping, accounting and other electronic data processing (EDP) applications. Then another role was added, as the concept of MIS was conceived. This new role focused on providing managerial end users with predefined management reports that would give managers the information they needed for decision-making purposes.
By the 1970s, it was evident that the prespecified information products produced by such management information systems were not adequately meeting many of the decision-making needs of management. So the consept of decision support system (DSS) was born. The new role for information system was to provide managerial end users with ad hoc and interactive support of their decision-making processes. This support would betailored to the unique decision-making styles of managers as they confronted specific types of problem in the real world.

Business Process Reengineering

Businesses have used information technology for many years to automate business process and support the analysis and presentation information for managerial decision making. However, business process reengineering is an example of how information technology is being used to restructure work by transforming business processes. A business process is any set of activities designed to produce a specified output for acustomer or market. The new product development process and customer order fulfillment process are typical examples.
Competitive Advantage with IT. Information technology can play a major role in implementing such strategies. This might  include:

• Cost Strategies: Using IT to help you become a low-cost producer, lower your customers' or suppliers' costs, or increase the costs your competitors must pay to remain in the industry.
• Differentiation strategies: Developing ways to use IT to differentiate your company's product or services from your competitors' so customers perceive your products or services as having unique features or benefits.

System Concepts. What is a system? A system can be simply defined as a group of interrelated or interacting elements forming a unified whole. Many examples of systems can be found in the physical and biological sciences, in modern technology, and in human society. Thus, we can talk of the physical system of the sun and its planets, the biological system of the human body, the technological system of an oil refinery, and the socioeconomic system of a business organization. However, the following generic system concept provides a more appropriate framework for describing information systems:
A system is a group of interrelated components working together toward a common goal by accepting inputs and producing outputs in an organized transformation process. Such a system (sometimes called a dynamic system) has three basic interacting components or functions:

• Input involves capturing and assembling elements that enter the system to be processed. For example, raw materials, energy, data, and human effort must be secured and organized for processing.
• Processing involves transformation processes that convert input into output. Examples are manufacturing process, the human breathing process, or mathematical calculations.
• Output involves transferring elements that have been produced by transformation process to their ultimate destination. For example, finished products, human services, and management information must be transmitted to their human users.