INFORMATION SYSTEM & ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

(GST 5083)

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Case Study: Management information system at Dell

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1)

Summarize the case study

MIS is more than just information technology. It consists of hardware technology,

software technology and network technology in order to deliver advance form of information
technology. MIS involves four interrelated information which are firstly, MIS in is not just
information technology but also involves its instantiation, and secondly it is as reactive and
inextricable elements both an information system and its organizational context. Third, MIS
involves information technology as a form of intellectual technology and lastly, MIS involves
the activities of a profession or corporate function which are integral to the essence of what
MIS is. Starting as a humble small and operational company, Dell has climbed the ladder into
world renowned personal computer manufacturer in the world. It is also known as the
company that provides their product by mail ordering method or by a catalogue. Founded
in83, the sales of Dell have rocketed from $80,000 per month to $ 40 million a day in the
late 1990s. Dell have implemented MIS in its daily operations mainly as an information
processing tools. The tools that dell uses include computers, the internet, maps, spreadsheets,
model and databases. At the operational level of Dell, the most appropriate tool for
information processing is maps. Maps can be used to process the country information and
also to determine the demographic level of the population. For the tactical level of Dell, the
most appropriate tool is of course the databases. Through the said information processing
tool, the records that can assist in finding out useful information in order for dell to operate in
their utmost efficiency. The inventory control system used by Dell is state of the art
technology in order to satisfy the consumer needs and it is so reliable in order to prevent
problems to arise. It is also what company use to know if certain products are still available
or misuse of the inventory system may cost problems to the company.

2) Comment on the MIS in Dell and suggest the positive and negatives of MIS in Dell?
The positive side of Dell using MIS in the corporation is that they are easing up the
fussy work that traditionally done by human. Such as to segregates the demographic data,
mapping the business in other country and such. The MIS can be more accurate and can work
faster, produce better results and can cut down administration and operating costs. MIS also
helps the corporation to deal with the consumer needs faster by providing databases and
solving consumer activity such as payments and delivery. Efficient management information
system makes it possible to effectively collaborate across boundaries, shared ideas about
product designs and value propositions. The result is faster and more customer-focused
product and service innovation.
Furthermore, Management Information Systems also helps a dell to create or update
its inventory control system. As it enables Dell to make sure that any product the consumer
need will be available to them at any given time. It is also what the company uses to know if
certain products are still available or and detects misuse of the inventory system that may cost
problems to the company. Management Information Systems of dell helps it to process
information from the internet or World Wide Web trends and strategies by other companies
can be known. After analysing the trends and strategies used by other companies, an
appropriate strategy can be formulated to use by the Dell.
However, to set up the sophisticated MIS package is not cheap and much of the
money and time need to be invested in order to get MIS peripheral up and running. The
servers itself will cost millions and systems such as mapping s and payment system will cost
more. The preparation also need to be done before installing and implementing MIS such as
training, prototyping and pilot test need to be conducted to make sure, the system will not be
jeopardizing the corporations once it is ready. Things such as corruptible data and security
measures must be monitored closely to avoid misuse of the data gathered. As in the article
mentioned the misuse of the inventory system may cost problems to the company. And the
corporation as large as Dell will not be taking that kind of risk and they will have a bright
future to look upon.

3)

The dell directly sells its computers to the customer whether it will give them good

and reliable information or they are lacking in information system due to this move?
Dell gives its customers good and reliable information. It has an excellent supply
chain and gets

instant

feedback

from

customers

about

needs

and

wants

via

integrated info systems (purchasing patterns online and service partnerships). Due to fast
phone service and also quick onsite service dell offers customized products better than
anyone else. Based in the the March issue of Consumer Reports, included a survey of 4,100
consumers, who gave Dell 62 points out of a possible 100 for its support on desktop PCs.
Although it still managed to top competing brands Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, which
scored 54 and 51, respectively. Shipments for the company, which pioneered direct sales of
computers to consumers, surged 25 percent year over year to 25.8 million units in 2003,
making it the world's largest PC maker.
Dell has a closer relationship with customers after cutting out the middleman,
thus taking all the praise from happy buyers and all the blame when things go wrong. In
addition, the PC business is becoming increasingly commoditized, marked by similarly
equipped machines and price erosion. The primary way to distinguish themselves from the
competitor is to spoil buyers by providing better service and support than competitors. Dell's
emphasis on service emanates directly from the top. CEO and founder Michael Dell wrote in
his 1999 book, "Direct by Dell," that relatively sketchy support offered by electronics stores
inspired him to build his own company. Therefore, Dell extremely committed to spend time
each year operating the phone lines to reach and communicate with their customers.

4)

Develop the information flow diagram for dell and suggest some improvement in the

same.

DELL

dell.com
dell.com

host
product
detail
recieve
order
and
dispatch
product

product
detail
price

consum
e
consume
r
access
product
inform
ati
informati
on
place
order

However, there are several improvement on the dell.com that needed to adjust in order
to accommodate the customer need and demand such as to provide customer review or
comment to rate the product. Furthermore, Dell should also revise on the software in order to
stimulate the interest of the customer for example giving free trial software and others.

5)

MIS is a combination of Management, Information and System of the three parts of

the information system in which area does the Dell lacking?

Dell lacks in management as The Company has such a huge range of products and
components from many suppliers from a number of countries, that there is the occasional
product recall that can cause Dell some embarrassment. For instance, in 2004 Dell had to
recall 4.4 million laptop adapters because of a fear that they could overheat, causing electric
shocks or fires. On August 17, 2007, Dell Inc. announced that after an internal investigation
into its accounting practices it would restate and reduce earnings from 2003 through to the
first quarter of 2007 by a total amount of between $50 million and $150 million, or 2 cents to
7

cents per share. The investigation, begun in November 2006, resulted from concerns

raised by the U.S. Securities and

Exchange Commission over some documents and information that Dell Inc. had
submitted. It was alleged that Dell had not disclosed large exclusivity payments received
from Intel for agreeing not to buy processors from a rival manufacturer. In 2010 Dell finally

paid $100 million to settle the SEC's charges of fraud. Michael Dell and other executives also
paid penalties and suffered other sanctions, without admitting or denying the charges.

The inefficient management of dell is also obvious from several incidents such as:

Closure of Dells biggest call center in April, 2003 terminating 1100 employees

Dell announced the closing of its manufacturing plant in Limerick, Ireland with the

loss of 1,900 jobs and the shift of production to its plant in Poland