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PSy22Response-60 word“People involved in selecting their organizations computer hardware must clearly understand current and future business requirements so they can make informed acquisition decisions.”(Stair, Reynolds 2014). This statement implies that every aspect of the integration has to be considered from hardware to software. Selection of hardware also requires looking at present and future needs of the company. Since companies are evolving in size a server that is sufficient today might require a server farm tomorrow. Companies that don’t carefully consider their entire infrastructure will end up in a competitive disadvantage which is why people who make these decisions need to be able to consider now and then.                Hardware options require looking at input, output, storage and processing devices required to complete company tasks. Software options require looking at buying licensed software or using web based software and off-the-self or custom designed. The options available for user interface will also dictate software options because the company needs to understand if the device will be able to store software or simply interact with it.                Applebees with their handheld devices needed to consider hardware options which would make the interface easy, small and user friendly. In order to minimize size the interface wouldn’t store any data instead access online software application. The system needs to be able to handle current processing and future additions to the system since its forever expanding. The handhelds use GUI interface with user friendly easily identifiable icons. The network also needs to be able to handle traffic of the ordering system as well as increasing wifi usage in the restaurant. Its hard to believe that Applebees now needs a strong IT infrastructure to support their daily operations and growing needs of their customers.Response-60 wordA company should carefully consider both hardware and software options before making a purchase.  When selecting hardware they should consider whether or not the hardware is robust enough to achieve the task it will be used for. A print server for example may not need to have as large of a hard drive as a Sql Server database server needs. Some applications like SQL Server are very resource dependant and will perform better with better hardware.  It’s also a good idea for the purchaser to collaborate with whom the machine will be intended for and the IT department.  Using the SQL Server database as an example, the DBA should be involved as they may be able to make recommendations knowing how many concurrent users will be using it or the size of the database.  This information will help determine how much RAM, how many processors and size of the hard drive needed.  I personally like “overkill” when it comes to hardware. Better to have extra than not enough. They may be able to recommend specifications along with additional components needed. The IT department should also be consulted as things like additional hard drives for internal RAID systems may be required.  Many IT departments already have pre-determined hardware specification for many hardware roles. User workstations for example, for general office work may get hardware based on one set of specifications whereas programmers may get hardware with different set of specifications.When it comes to software most companies will use off the shelf software for general computing.  Software Suites like Microsoft Office is used by millions for word processing, power point presentations, email client and spreadsheet work. Many other off the shelf applications can help support the business’s information system.  One problem with off the shelf software is that you are limited to what it can do and may not have all the “Bells and Whistles” that your company needs. This is where custom software solutions come in.  A company can either hire software developers or outsource the development. Either way they can have software built that addresses specific needs.  A real world example of this is when I worked at AIG. We built the Executive Management Information System (EMIS). This system allowed the company executives to search policy information and then generate reports based on this information.  There was no off the shelf system that would do what we needed. One thing we did purchase was a set of controls called “Infragistics”. This control suite has a set of controls we used during development to save us time.  Even in custom development you can still purchase smaller applications that support your effort. These also require consideration since the licenses where $12k each. So an ROI was needed to compare what it would cost us in time and money to build the controls ourselves using in-house developers versus purchasing the licenses. Ralph M Stair & George W. Reynolds(2012).  Fundamentals of Information Systems.  7 Edition. Published by Course Technology Cengage Learning.Response-60 wordWhen a company is looking to implement changes to either their hardware or operating software, or both, they are faced with a myriad of choices. To keep from becoming overwhelmed or choosing the wrong items, a company needs to have a clearly defined set of requirements. These requirements should take into account the overall purpose of the new items, expected demands, user interface, and the goals of the company (Reynolds & Stair, 2014). This also has to be balanced against the financial commitment the company can, or is willing to, make.Several years ago, the Army moved to a completely paperless system of record keeping for aviation units. This involved converting from old cardstock and printed copy forms to an all-digital system. The fielding started with the Quality Control (QC) and Production Control (PC) shops. The QC shops held all the historical records for the aircraft and PC governed the work flow and scheduling. These two entities have very different functions but their systems needed to be able to communicate. These factors guided the decision making process when it came to choosing the appropriate hardware and software packages. Once this process had begun, the flight companies were evaluated for what systems they would require. Since the flight companies had to be linked to both PC and QC, the software needs were guided by earlier decisions. The hardware that they needed took the project manager down a different path. The flight companies typically needed a more robust package due to the demands of the users. So, while PC and QC shops were issued one type of computer, flight companies, in general, were issued a different kind.ReferencesReynolds, G. W., & Stair, R. M. (2014). Fundamentals of Information Systems. Boston: Course Technology.Mt203Resoponse-70 wordDescribe the activities involved in the performance management process.The activities involved in the performance management process was to rank their managers according to their performance against goals and sort into the top 20%, these 20% to producers will get rewarded, the middle 70% and the bottom 10% were asked to leave.2.    2.     The forced ranking approach is one of several methods of managing performance described in the textbook. Compare and contrast the fairness of forced rankings relative to two other methods of measuring performance described in this chapter.The forced ranking is intended to help promote performance and bonus payouts, however it can create employee morale problems as well. With the simple ranking the manager decides which employee is the best and get the person out of the list and goes to the second best and so on, until all the employees have been ranked. “The downside of ranking is that involves validity therefore raises questions about fairness because when you are ranking best, worse doesn't define what exactly is good or bad about the person’s contribution on the organization, so the forced ranking method is more fair to the employees because is being measured to the employees goal.”  (Noe, R. 2013, pg. 241).  When using the paired comparison approach, a rater compares each possible pair of employees. "For example, Employee 1 is compared to Employees 2 and 3, and Employee 2 is compared to Employee 3. The employee winning the most contests receives the highest ranking. A forced distribution approach requires a rater to assign a certain percentage of employees to each category of excellence, such as best, average, or worst. Forced distribution is analogous to grading on a curve, where a certain percentage of students get As, a certain percentage get Bs, and so forth." Marcia J. Simmering (2014)Reference:Noe, R. (2013). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management (5th Ed), p, 241.Marcia J. Simmering. (2014). Employee evaluations and performance appraisals. Retrieved March 11, 2015, from      http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Em-Exp/Employee-Evaluation-and-Performance-Appraisals.htmlResoponse-70 wordPerformance management is the process managers utilize to ensure employees’ activities and outputs contribute to the organization’s goals. It begins by specifying which aspects of performance are relevant to the organization and measures these aspects through performance appraisal. Performance management also enables managers to provide feedback to employees with information about their performances so they can adjust their behavior to meet the organization’s goals.The performance appraisal method uses three simple techniques to make comparisons. These include simple ranking, forced distribution and paired comparison. To begin with, simple ranking requires managers to rank employees from the highest performer to the poorest performer. The downside however are these rankings do not give a true picture of a person’s contribution to the organization and can therefore raise questions about fairness.  In contrast, the forced distribution method assigns a certain percentage to each employee in specific categories. For instance 5% of employees are exceptional, 25% of employees exceed standards, 55% meet standards, 10% needs improvement and 5% is unacceptable. The benefit of this method is it eliminates rating employees from highest to lowest, thus avoiding conflict.  Lastly, paired comparison involves comparing employees to each other to establish rankings. The employee with the most points is considered the top-ranked employee. Again, the downside to this method is it can be time consuming depending of the amount of employees and organization has employed.ReferenceGerhart, B.,Hollenbeck, J., Noe, R., & Wright, P. (2009). Fundamentals of human resource management. (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
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