Case Study Analysis: System Theory, Data Modeling, MIS Concepts

This case study delves into the core concepts of system theory, data modeling, and Management Information Systems (MIS). It begins by defining system theory, detailing the components of a system, and illustrating the importance of data processing. The study then explores the relationship between Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) and MIS, highlighting their roles in capturing, processing, and reporting business transactions. Data modeling is discussed, covering schematic models, Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERDs), and key notations. The case study also defines primary, foreign, and composite keys. Furthermore, the study provides a comprehensive overview of MIS, including different types of reports and their applications. Finally, it addresses the issue of unauthorized access (hacking), explaining how it is carried out, the damage it causes, and the relevant legal framework, such as the Computer Misuse Act of 1990. The study offers a detailed analysis of these crucial business and technology concepts.

CASE STUDY
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TASK 1......................................................................................................................................1
System theory.........................................................................................................................1
Relationship between a TPS and a MIS.................................................................................2
TASK 2......................................................................................................................................4
Data Modelling.......................................................................................................................4
Schematic models...................................................................................................................5
What notation represents........................................................................................................8
Versions of ERD.....................................................................................................................8
Define primary, foreign and composite keys.........................................................................8
TASK 3....................................................................................................................................10
What is MIS..........................................................................................................................10
TASK 4....................................................................................................................................11
Unauthorised access (hacking).............................................................................................11
How it is carried out.............................................................................................................11
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................14
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1Conceptual Model....................................................................................................................1
Figure 2 Relationship between MIS and TPS........................................................................................3
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TASK 1
System theory
It can be define as phenomena which investigate both the principles common to all
complex entities. A system can be said to consist of 4 things such as: first is object as well as
variable within the system, second is attribute and third is a system that has internal
relationship among its objects (Hofmann-Wellenhof, Lichtenegger and Collins, 2013).
Fourth, the last part covers the system that exists in the environment.
Figure 1: Conceptual Model
Data processing is another most important concept which includes input data, process
information and feedback. This overall process takes place in the internal parts of computer
systems through which overall information can be stored. In this, data consists of raw facts
such as customer name, address as well as other information. Turning this data into the
information is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined outcome.
Further, the outcomes will be presented in the form of information to all the customers so that
they can gain appropriate information at the required time.
DATA PROCESS INFO
1. A1234
2. Mobile phone
(Product)
3. Update inventory
through spread sheet
4. C.O.D method Cash
on delivery
1. Create customer
account
2. Place product in
shopping basket &
calculate bill
3. Update inventory
inc. Raise supplier
order.
1. Your Account Id: A1234
2. $ 150.14 USD
3.
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5. 65 B, Greater
London, UK (good
is in transit)
4. Process payment
inc. Various
methods
5. Generate pick lists
& despatch notes 4.
5. Consignment will be delivered to you at 65 B,
Greater London, UK. Click here to track the
consignment
Relationship between a TPS and a MIS
TPS can be define as a transaction processing system which is very helpful for firms
in keeping the track of their day to day activities. All the business transaction information
such as: cash deposit, cash withdrawals etc. can be easily recorded. It performs all the routine
transactions of the firm and also supports the activities of management at the operational
layer of the organization (Mcleod, 2008). TPS often referred as an operation information
system (OIS). It is the major producer of information that basically produces information for
other systems. The main objective of TPS is to capture process and store all the information
regarding the transactions of firms.
On the other hand, MIS is known as the management information system which is
highly related with the managing all the business information. Where TPS capture, process
and store all the transaction information, MIS summarise and prepare reports. There are two
ways through which transaction processing takes place i.e. online processing and batch
processing. On the other hand, there are different types of functional MIS i.e. HR, Sales as
well as accounting and finance MIS. There is an internal and external source of data where
internal data sources can be the TPS of organizations. Furthermore, a transaction is the most
important activity and business related event on which organization must respond. In addition
to this Management information system is produced reports that aids in management control
of operations and problem solving. MIS is highly related with the TPS as it obtains data from
TPS:
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Figure 2 Relationship between MIS and TPS
(Source: Mcleod, 2008)
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TASK 2
Data Modelling
Data modelling can be defined as a documentation of existing process and events that
happens at the time of application software design as well as development. With the help of
these techniques all the complex designing of systems easily get represented in the form of
data flows and processes (Jiao and Tseng, 2009). It can also be define as a process of re-
engineering and there are mainly three levels of data modelling such as:
Conceptual data model
Logical data model
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Physical data model
Schematic models
It can be define as a system representation of different elements by using abstract,
graphic as well as symbols. In this model, system structure and operation presented by the
means of visualizing without immediately trying to mathematically represent the system
(Gillenson, 2008). For the operation engineer there are many types of schematic models that
must be used and organize their knowledge in logical fashion. Some of the most common
techniques included in this are as follows:
 Organization charts
 Process Charts
 Activity Charts
 Logic Flow Charts
ERDs: It is known as entity relationship diagram in which shows an entity set stored in a
database. It can also be define as a logical structure of database (Coronel and Morris, 2014).
In addition to this, it can be determining that and ERD is a data modelling technique which
helps in defining business process. There are five main component of ERD such as:
Entities: It is mainly represented by rectangle and it is an object about which person wants to
store information. In these entities a weak entity is defined by foreign key relationship.
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Actions: It is another most important component which is represented by diamond shape
which basically shows those how two entities commonly share the information (Jain, 2002).
In case of linking different entities it can be presented by self-linked entities. Here, workers
can supervise other workers.
Attributes: These are represented by ovals which basically distinguish characteristics of the
entity (Ramakrishnan, 2007). For example: Employee’s Identity number might be the
employee’s key attributes. There is a different connected line which shows the relationship
between entities.
Cardinality: It clearly determines that how many instances of an entity relate to one instance
of another entity. However, it specifies maximum number of relationships (Jiao and Tseng,
2009).
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Entity
Relationship
Employees
Attribute

Class Diagrams: It is static structure diagram which represents the appropriate analysis and
design of the static view of an application. It is the main base of component and deployment
diagrams (Narang, 2011). It clearly shows the mapping with any object oriented languages
such as java, C++ etc. However, it describes the overall functionality performed by the
system. A sample class diagram is given below:
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What notation represents
A notation is a system of a graphic or symbol which mainly represents different
technical facts. In the ER diagram notation represents as a crow foot notation which is used
with cardinality (Conceptual Database Design - Entity Relationship(ER) Model, 2014). It
represents entities as boxes and relationships as lines between the boxes.
Versions of ERD
 One-to-many: At the time of defining any type of relationship it defines that
relationship between two entities such as: customer table and order table.
 Many-to-many: Here, relationship can be presented in between two tables such as
product table and order table (Gillenson, 2008). In this, a single order can include
more than one product.
 One-to-one relationship: Only a single match of each recording another table can
exist.
Define primary, foreign and composite keys
Primary Key: A primary key is a table column that uniquely identify in the each row
of the table. There is only one primary key in each table.
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Foreign Key: This key is actually used to define the relationship between two tables.
User can create more than one foreign key in each table (Coronel and Morris, 2014).
Composite Key: At the time of creating keys on more than one column then that key
is known as composite key.
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TASK 3
What is MIS
Management Information system is one of the most important systems which broadly
refer to a computer based system which helps in evaluating, organizing and effectively
managing whole data of the company. It is the best way to take appropriate strategic
decisions. There are different types of systems which must be adopted by company such as
transaction processing system, decision support system, expert systems as well as executive
information systems (Mcleod, 2008). An MIS can produce different types of reports such as:
A scheduled report, On-demand report, exception etc.
In this scheduled report is produced on regular intervals such as payroll reports, sales
volume etc. On the other On-demand report is produced by request rather than a fixed
schedule such as shipping statements. In addition to this, Exception report is another type of
report which refers to the data that is outside to the normal ranges (McLeod and Schell,
2001). Such as: A MIS exception could notify store manager when his inventory is running
low so that he can reorder supplies.
It can be define as an example of HR. He comes under the functional department of
any organization which basically manages overall payroll system of company as well as
policies and regular updating in leave records as well. Functioning of HR can be determined
as:
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SOURCE OF INPUT
Employees
External Bodies
Outsourcing
HR MIS
Reports
Output
Decision Making
Payroll management
Leave management

TASK 4
Unauthorised access (hacking)
Hacker unauthorized access might occur when user attempts to access an area of a
system of any other person where they not have access. It clearly defines as cyber-crimes and
comes under the category of different laws such as Computer Misuse Act, 1990, Data Theft
etc. Further, it can be stated that unauthorized access is an activity which takes place when
someone is going to access a website, program or any other system by someone else’s
account (Hacking, 2006). There are mainly two types of hackers i.e. White Hat and Black
Hat.
White Hat v Black Hat
Black Hat hackers are those who mainly spend weeks and hours to learn about a
system that they want to exploit. Mainly the aim of this type of hackers is chaos and may be a
bit of fun. They are the one who hacks something for immoral purpose and just getting access
to protected information. They also called as bad guys and they are very talented as well to
mail someone at a company pretending to be someone.
On the other hand, white hat hackers called good guys as sometimes hackers can be
very helpful. They will also apply many of the same techniques as Black Hat Hackers but
with a different goal (Kaminsky, 2006). Their main aim is to correcting a security issues and
make sure that things are only accessible by correct users.
How it is carried out
It is carried out by a person who is professional hacker and this normally done
through the use of “backdoor” program installed in the computer. It can be protected by using
different firewall systems as well as up to date anti-virus program.
The victim (organisation)
At such time organizations may be victim from any other organization. In this, hacker
might break into someone’s computer. A victim might receive a malicious codes or programs
which are automatically attached with anything such as e-mail etc.
Damaged caused
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There are different types of hacking caused different damages as per their purpose.
The major cause is that hacker can see everything a victim is doing in his/her system ( Taylor,
Fritsch and Liederbach, 2014). He can also access any type of personal file as well. In
addition to this, without the knowledge of target person a hacker can install several programs
on the system which could be used for stealing personal information such passwords, credit
card information etc.
Computer Misuse Act, 1990
This act is presented against the activity of hackers which is a general provision for
securing computer material against unauthorized access.
The offences:
 Section 1 CMA: Unauthorised Access
 Section 2 CMA: Unauthorised Access with Intent
 Section 3 CMA: Unauthorized Acts with Intent to Impair
Mainly there are 3 issues which might takes place at the time of hacking such as:
 Privacy: Any private data of person might steal due to someone’s personal advantage.
 Confidentiality: All the confidential information regarding customer’s personal
information such as account number, credit card information, pin number etc. may
steal (Hacking, 2006).
In order to protect and secure different systems from such type of hacking there are
different solutions such as:
 Physical: Under this type of security there is a total protection of hardware, programs
or any type of network. It includes protection of any building from file, theft and
terrorism etc. However, breaches of physical security can be carried out for technical
and dramatic issues such as hacking. Electronic: These are the system which ensures the security of financial transactions
on the internet. It is highly supported by MasterCard, Netscape and others. At the time
of transaction user need to use digital certificate so that transaction is verified using a
combination of digital signature. Managerial: In order to resolve security issues security management systems is one
of the most effective concepts set out by most of the organization (Kaminsky, 2006).
Under which, different policies are set out by company concerned with information IT
related risks.
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 Software: There are different security software’s such as firewalls as well as
antiviruses which must be kept by companies in all their systems. It is the most
effective way to protect different computer systems.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Coronel, C., and Morris, S., 2014. Database Systems: Design, Implementation, &
Management. Cengage learning.
Gillenson, L. M., 2008. Fundamentals of Database Management Systems. John Wiley &
Sons.
Hacking, I., 2006. The emergence of probability: a philosophical study of early ideas about
probability, induction and statistical inference. Cambridge University Press.
Hofmann-Wellenhof, B., Lichtenegger, H. and Collins, J., 2013. Global positioning system:
theory and practice. Springer Science & Business Media.
Jain, K. V., 2002. Database Management Systems. Dreamtech Press.
Jiao, J. and Tseng, M. M., 2009. A requirement management database system for product
definition. Integrated Manufacturing Systems. 10(3).pp.146 - 154
Kaminsky, D., 2006. Explorations in namespace: white-hat hacking across the domain name
system. Communications of the ACM. 49(6). pp.62-69.
Mcleod, 2008. Management Information Systems. Pearson Education India.
McLeod, R. and Schell, G., 2001. Management Information Systems. Marketing Information
System.
Narang, R., 2011. Database Management Systems. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
Ramakrishnan, R., 2007. Database management systems. McGraw-Hill.
Taylor, R.W., Fritsch, E.J. and Liederbach, J., 2014. Digital crime and digital terrorism.
Prentice Hall Press.
Online
Conceptual Database Design - Entity Relationship(ER) Model. 2014. [Online]. Available
through: <http://www.careerbless.com/db/rdbms/c1/design.php> [Assessed on 23rd
December 2014]
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