Management
Management
Chapter 8, pg 304: When Antivirus Software Cripples your Computers
- What management, organization and technology factors were responsible for McAfee’s software problem?
The technical factor that was responsible for McAfee’s software problem is that they failed to include “Windows XP Service Pack 3 with VirusScan version 8.7 in the test configuration of operating systems and McAfee product versions”. Another blunder committed by McAfee is that the users were not given a warning that “svchost.exe was to be quarantined or deleted, instead of automatically disposing the file”. Management could also be faulted for relying solely on automated quality assurance. Furthermore, management did not act immediately on the problem and they downplayed the slip up, apologizing only after several days have passed.
- What was the business impact of this software problem, both for McAfee and for its customers?
The business impact of this software problem for the customers is a loss of trust on McAfee. There will already be a tinge of doubt on McAfee’s ability to protect the hardware and software of computers. For McAfee, their reputation was damaged.
- If you were a McAfee enterprise customer, would you consider McAfee’s response to the problem acceptable? Why or why not?
If I was a McAfee enterprise customer, I would not consider their response to the problem acceptable because I think that it is pure negligence on their part. Being a computer security company, I would expect that they are the last one who would suffer any glitches in their system. Furthermore, they did not admit to their fault right away, even saying that the problem only affected a few computers. They should have been transparent right from the very start.
- What should McAfee do in the future to avoid similar problems?
Chapter 8, pg 321: How Secure is the Cloud
- What security and control problems are described in this case?
One security and control problem described in the case is the high distribution of cloud computing. Companies who use cloud computing do not know exactly where their data is being hosted or in what country their data is stored. Another problem raised on cloud computing is its inability to be available 24/7.
- What people, organization, and technology factors contribute to these problems?
A contributory factor in the wide dispersion of cloud computing is the cost involved. To reduce cost, it becomes necessary to distribute the work to areas where it is more cost efficient. The problem worsens when cloud computing providers do not comply with the requirements on security, such as an independent audit.
- How secure is cloud computing? Explain your answer.
- If you were in charge of your company’s information systems department, what issues would you want to clarify with prospective vendors?
If I was in charge of my company’s information systems department, I would like to clarify whether each user or client of the cloud computing company is provided with their own processors, caches and memory at any point in time and whether they would clean house between users by reloading the operating system and zeroing all memory. Another major concern for me is whether the people handling the data centers have “good security training and appropriate security vetting”.
- Would you entrust your corporate systems to a cloud computing provider? Why or why not?
Yes I would entrust our corporate systems to a cloud computing provider because it is a less costly process which provides back-up data in less time. It is more efficient than having to train people and buying software programs and licenses.
Chapter 13, pg 522: Are Electronic Medical Records a Cure for Health Care?
- What management, organization and technology factors are responsible for the difficulties in building electronic medical record systems? Explain your answer.
Some of the management and organizational factors responsible for the difficulties in building an electronic medical record system are the issues on the patient’s privacy concern and the resistance of the health care workers. Another very important factor in management and organization is the cost factor. Building an electronic medical record systems entails a large expense especially for small health care provide . With regards to the technology factors, the data quality issues are still questionable. Furthermore, the sharing of medical data between different systems is an area of concern. There may be too many information in a patient’s records, so much so that doctors might take a long time before finding the data that they need.
- What stages of system building will be the most difficult when creating electronic medical record systems? Explain your answer.
The stages of system building that will be most difficult when creating electronic medical record systems is gathering of the data from numerous sources such as laboratory systems, pharmacy systems and physician dictation systems ,which all have different codes and structures
- What is the business and social impact of not digitizing medical records (to individual physicians, hospitals, insurers, patients)?
The business impact of not digitizing medical records is that cost savings will not be realized in terms of recordkeeping and labor hours. Patients will still have to carry all their medical records when making consultations with different doctors. Physicians will still have to rely on the medical history of patients based on what they relate and remember.
- What are the business and social benefits of digitizing medical recordkeeping?
A major benefit of digitizing medical recordkeeping is that it eliminates the inefficiency that exists in maintaining paper-based records. EMR also promises to be more cost efficient because of the money saved from paper, folders, filing cabinets, and human work hours. A digitized medical recordkeeping will minimize billing, collection, and drug prescription errors which benefit both the health care provider, insurer and the patients.
Information requirements:
For physicians: 1) medical history of the patient; 2) adverse drug effects on patients
For patients: 1) previous laboratory or other medical test results; 2) allergies
For hospitals: 1) previous hospitalization records of the patient; 2) dosage of prescription drugs
- Diagram the “as-is” and “to-be” process for prescribing a medication for a patient before and after an EMR system is implemented.
The diagram below describes the “as-is” process of prescription before an EMR (Pollock, et al, 2007).
The diagram below describes the “to-be” process of prescription after an EMR.
Chapter 14, pg 556: JetBlue and WestJet: A Tale of Two IS Projects
- How important is the reservation system at airlines such as WestJet and JetBlue? How does it impact operational activities and decision making?
The reservation system at any airline is very important because it gives the customers information on flight schedules, availability of seats, fares, bookings, refunds, ticketing information and cancellations. Operational activities and decision making become less costly and decisions can be made immediately if a well-designed reservation system is in place.
- Evaluate the key risk factors of the projects to upgrade the reservation systems of WestJet and JetBlue.
The key risk factors involved in the upgrade of the reservation systems is it may not be acceptable to direct clients or travel agents because they may find it more complicated. Another risk factor is how the airline personnel will react to the changes in the system. The willingness of the personnel to be trained and how long before they can adjust to the new system are some factors to be considered.
- Classify and describe the problems each airline faced in implementing its new reservation system. What management, organization and technology factors caused those problems?
With WestJet, it was mainly a matter of technology factors. It failed to transfer 840,000 files which contained the data on past transactions, specifically tickets which have been purchased prior to the upgrade to a new reservation system. To make matters worse, they did not have a backup website when their website crashed several times. Management failed to foresee the possible problems they will encounter from the changeover. JetBlue also experienced some technical glitches when their call wait time increased and ticket printers and kiosks were not online. An organizational and management problem encountered by JetBlue was when, unlike its competitors, it did not cancel its flights during a blizzard.
- Describe the steps you would have taken to control the risk in these projects.
References
(n.d.). Are electronic medical records a cure for health care? In P. Abemathy.
Delaney, L. (2013). 10 Benefits of cloud computing. Retrieved from verio.com: http://www.verio.com/resource-center/articles/cloud-computing-benefits/
eHealth Initiative Foundation, et al. (2008). A clinician's guide to electronic prescribing. Washington, D.C.
(n.d.). How secure is the cloud? In P. Abermathy, Management information systems: Managing the digital firm, Twelfth Edition (pp. 321-322).
Ingram, D. (2013). Cost benefit analysis of electronic medical records. Retrieved from ehow.com: http://www.ehow.com/about_5453630_cost-analysis-electronic-medical-records.html
Java, & Architect, N. (2009, March). Introduction to airline reservation systems. Retrieved from slideshare.net: http://www.slideshare.net/mave_boy/introduction-to-airline-reservation-systems-1237705
(n.d.). JetBlue and WestJet: A tale of two IS projects. In P. Abemathy.
McDonald, C. J. (1997). The barriers to electronic medical record systems and how to overcome them. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 213-221.
Pollock, M., Bazaldua, O., & Dobbie, A. (2007). Appropriate prescribing of medications: an eight-step approach. Am Fam Physician, 231-236.
Talbot, D. (2009, November 16). How secure is cloud computing? Retrieved from technologyreview.com: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/416293/how-secure-is-cloud-computing/page/2/
(n.d.). When antivirus software cripples your computers. In P. Abermathy, Management information systems: Managing the digital firm, Twelfth Edition (pp. 304-305).
