MIS and e-Business
Semester V · BCA 304 · 3 credits
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chapters done
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The syllabus asks for
- Data, information and knowledge
- Systems thinking
- The organisation pyramid and decision levels
- Types of information systems
- How the systems fit together
- Information systems in Nepali organisations
- Seeing information systems: machines, pyramids and flows
Key points
- Data become information when processed in context, and knowledge when combined with experience; good information is accurate, timely, relevant, complete, consistent, secure and worth its cost.
- A system has inputs, processes, outputs, feedback and control inside a boundary; an IS has hardware, software, data, procedures and people.
- Decisions are structured, semi-structured or unstructured and are made at operational, tactical and strategic levels.
- TPS record events (batch or online, ACID); MIS summarise them; DSS model what-ifs; ESS display KPIs; KMS share knowledge.
- Islands of information are fixed by integration and enterprise systems.
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The syllabus asks for
- Strategy and the role of information systems
- Porter's five forces
- The value chain
- Generic strategies and supporting IT
- Network effects and Metcalfe's law
- Aligning IS strategy with business strategy
- Business process reengineering and change
- Seeing strategy: forces, concentration, chains and networks
Key points
- Strategic information systems change the firm's competitive position; sustainability requires data, relationships, scale or processes that rivals cannot easily copy.
- Porter's five forces (entrants, suppliers, buyers, substitutes, rivalry) can be scored; HHI measures concentration, and a merger raises it by twice the product of the shares.
- The value chain locates IS value in primary and support activities and in the interfaces with suppliers and customers.
- Generic strategies are cost leadership, differentiation and focus; switching costs, lock-in and network effects reinforce them.
- Alignment, CSFs and BPR connect IS investment to business goals.
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The syllabus asks for
- Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
- Customer relationship management (CRM)
- Supply chain management (SCM)
- The bullwhip effect
- Integrating enterprise systems
- Seeing enterprise systems: one database, costs and the bullwhip
Key points
- ERP shares one database across finance, sales, procurement, inventory, manufacturing and HR; implementation may be big bang, phased, parallel or pilot, and weighted scoring supports vendor choice.
- CRM has operational, analytical and collaborative forms; RFM segments customers.
- SCM coordinates material, information and money flows. EOQ = √(2DS/H); safety stock = z·σ_d·√L; reorder point = demand × L + safety stock.
- The bullwhip effect amplifies variance up the chain by 1 + 2L/p + 2L²/p² per stage; sharing demand data and shortening lead times reduce it.
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The syllabus asks for
- The decision-making process
- Decision tables
- Decisions under risk: payoff tables and EMV
- Decisions under uncertainty (probabilities unknown)
- Decision trees and the value of a pilot
- Business intelligence and data warehousing
- Knowledge management
- Seeing decisions: steps, payoffs, trees and warehouses
Key points
- Decisions follow intelligence, design, choice and implementation; DSS support each phase.
- Decision tables expose missing or contradictory rules; 2ⁿ combinations must each match exactly one rule.
- Under risk use EMV; EVPI bounds the value of information. Under uncertainty use maximin, maximax, Laplace, Hurwicz or minimax regret, chosen to fit the risk attitude.
- Decision trees are solved by rolling back; information is valuable only if it can change the decision.
- BI relies on ETL, warehouses, star schemas, OLAP and KPIs; KM converts tacit and explicit knowledge (SECI).
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The syllabus asks for
- e-Business and e-Commerce
- The online customer funnel and unit economics
- The payment problem
- Nepal's payment architecture
- Building and running an e-business
- Seeing e-business: funnels, unit economics and netting
Key points
- e-Business covers all online business processes; e-commerce is online trade; models include B2C, B2B, C2C, G2C and m-commerce with revenue by margin, commission, subscription or advertising.
- Funnel metrics, CAC and LTV tell whether growth is profitable; sanity-check the assumptions.
- A payment passes through authorisation, clearing and settlement; NRB licenses PSOs and PSPs under the Payment and Settlement Act 2075.
- NCHL (NPI, ConnectIPS), Fonepay (switch and QR), wallets and banks form the retail payment network; multilateral netting reduces settlement transfers.
- Always verify payment status server-side with the gateway before fulfilment.
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The syllabus asks for
- Security goals, threats and controls
- Quantitative risk analysis
- Authentication and password strength
- Securing e-commerce
- Business continuity, audit and law
- Seeing security: factors, risk arithmetic, entropy and recovery
Key points
- Security aims at confidentiality, integrity and availability; controls are preventive, detective or corrective.
- ALE = AV × EF × ARO; a safeguard is justified when the ALE it removes exceeds its cost.
- Entropy L × log₂ N measures password strength; use MFA and salted slow hashes.
- E-commerce security relies on TLS, a gateway, server-side verification, fraud rules and secure code.
- RPO and RTO drive backup and recovery design; audit and the Electronic Transactions Act supply oversight and legal frame.
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The syllabus asks for
- Developing and acquiring information systems
- Costs and benefits
- Payback, NPV, IRR and ROI
- Total cost of ownership (TCO)
- Break-even analysis
- Managing change and ethics
- Seeing investment decisions: cash flows, NPV, TCO and break-even
Key points
- Choose build, buy, customise or outsource on fit, cost, skills and risk; failures are usually organisational.
- Discount cash flows; accept projects with NPV > 0 or IRR above the required rate; payback and ROI are simple supplements.
- TCO includes all lifetime costs; compare options at present value.
- Break-even volume = fixed cost ÷ contribution margin.
- Change management and post-implementation review complete the investment cycle.
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The paper
TU assessment: 60% final examination set by the university, 40% internal (assignments, lab work, attendance). Confirm the split in your college's notice.
Where the hours go
Teaching hours are the board's guide to how much of the paper each part carries.
- Unit 3 · Enterprise Applications - ERP, CRM and Supply Chain Management8 h
- Unit 4 · Decision Support, Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management8 h
- Unit 5 · e-Business, e-Commerce and Digital Payments in Nepal8 h
- Unit 2 · Strategy and Competitive Advantage7 h
- Unit 1 · Information Systems in the Enterprise6 h
- Unit 6 · Security and Control of Information Systems4 h
- Unit 7 · Developing and Justifying Information Systems4 h