M.B.A. (Semester III) Examination, 2017
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (Paper XIX)
Group D Systems Management (Paper
Day and Date Friday, 12-5-2017 Total Marks 70
Time 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.
Instructions Question No. 1 is compulsory.
Solve any two questions from 4 and any two from
6 and 7.
All questions carry equal marks (14 marks).
1. Analyze the following case, identify the problem, provide alternate and justify the
best solution for the same. 14
In 1994, with a handful of programmers and a few thousand dollars in workstations
and servers, Jeff set out to change the retail world when he created ABC com. In
July 1995, ABC opened its Website for sales. Using heavily discounted book
prices (20 to 30 percent below common retail prices); ABC advertised heavily
and became the leading celebrity of the Internet and e-commerce.
ABC made its initial mark selling books, and many people still think of the company
in terms of books. However, almost from the start, the company has worked to
expand into additional areas striving to become a global retailer of almost anything.
Some of the main events include: 1995 books, 1998 music and DVD/video, 1999
auctions, electronics, toys, zShops/MarketPalce, home improvement, software,
and video games [1999 annual report].
By the end of 1999, the company had forged partnerships with several other
online stores, including Ashford.com, Audible, Della.com, drugstore.com,
Gear.com, Green-light.com, HomeGrocer.com, Kozmo.com, living.com.,
NextCard.com, Pets.com, and Sothebys. Ofcourse, most of those firms and
Web sites later died in the dot-com crash of 2000/2001.
ABC also established partnerships with several large retailers, including Target,
Toys Us, Babies Us, and Circuit City. Effectively, ABC became a service
organization to manage the online presence of these large retailers. However, it
also uses its distribution system to deliver the products. The Circuit City
arrangement was slightly different from the others customers could pick up
their items directly from their local stores. After Circuit City went under, the
relationship ended.
By mid-2003, the Web sales and fulfillment services amounted to 20 percent of
ABC's sales. Bezos points out that most companies realize that only a small
fraction of their total sales to 10 percent) will come from online systems, so it
makes sense to have ABC's run those portions.
In 2001, ABC took over the Web site run by its bricks-and-mortar rival Borders.
In 2000, Borders lost $18.4 million on total online sales of 27.4 million. Also in
2001, ABC partnered with Expedia to offer travel services directly from the ABC
site. However, in this case, the ABC portion consists of little more than an
advertising link to the Expedia services. The deals in 2001 continued with a twist
when ABC licensed its search technology to AOL. AOL invested $100 million in
ABC and paid an undisclosed license fee to use the search-and-personalization
service on Shop@AOL. In 2003, ABC launched a subsidiary just to sell its Websales
and fulfillment technology to other firms. Bezos noted that ABC spends
about 200 million a year on information technology total of 900 million to
mid-2003). The purpose of the subsidiary is to help recover some of those costs
although Bezos believes they were critically necessary expenditures.
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With so many diverse products, and relationships, it might be tempting to keep
everything separate. However, ABC perceives advantages from showing the
entire site to customers as a single, broad entity.
2. Write short notes on any two of the following 14
Financial Information System.
Group Decision Support System.
Role of ICT in Knowledge Management.
3. Answer any two of the following 14
Explain the importance of Knowledge Management.
Explain the Strategic role of information system.
Discuss tools for interaction with MIS.
4. Answer any two of the following 14
Explain logical and physical view of data.
Explain the factors of Success of information system implementation.
Discuss the uses of management information systems.
5. Explain in detail the Production Management Information System along with
associated sub-systems and the input elements, analysis and reports expected
from it. 14
6. Explain in detail the role of DSS, GDSS and ESS in enhancing management
decision making. 14
7. Explain organization of data in traditional and modern database environments.
Compare each of these in terms of respective advantages. 14