Sample Research Proposal on Computerized Information Systems

The underlying problems that are involved in the process of business information systems present situations that relate to such changes in business cycles and paradigms as such technicalities of the systems used have experienced such execution problems of the program organizations being applied and utilized so, it is imperative to consider areas of concerns and apply solutions for business relating to the information systems managed by the business executives and its respected management. The problem evolves to certain business information systems reflecting such information at the same time web-based concepts through Java and or C++ respectively.  However, there can be animosity for business culture, IT systems bring in potential obstacles, such as the fundamental cultural and language differences between nations are still present on-line. In addition, the nature of such systems function allows the offering of good business opportunity for firm's global reputation, especially when the power of the Internet is an account. Then, there arguments that utilizing IT ways, something that business today must consider well. In today's competitive world, information systems provide greater business advantage as to whether a business follows cost leadership strategy and other approaches; the information systems have strategic impact by reducing costs as well as identifying potential segmentation in the market. True, that communication is essential element in operating business successfully. (Kadiyala and Kleiner, 2005 p. 164) Thus, information systems go a long way in simplifying things for business by means of effective management of information.                   Moreover, information systems provide certain benefits that are critical for business as with better utilization of management, business can make strategic decisions with more certainty of the outcomes. These systems help in satisfying diverse needs of customer base of the business. (Kadiyala and Kleiner, 2005 p. 164) Aside, information systems increase productivity through optimum use of the needed resources along with development as well as growth in communication technologies then, the information systems acquire positive impact on business and will provide strategic solutions to business issues and challenges. (Kadiyala and Kleiner, 2005 p. 164) Thus, in order to meet customer needs within the global market, businesses need to always upgrade their recent information systems and be able to adopt new technologies in order to adapt to the changing business process and trends. Furthermore, business need to customize certain systems in matching the company's requirements and to better satisfy the needs of customers and the parties involved in the business process. (Kadiyala and Kleiner, 2005 p. 169) Then, IT technology were recognized as business continuity and enterprise agility drivers and from systems performances perspective, they can be used to reduce downtime and consequently contribute in achieving better financial results as each minute of the downtime has its price. Therefore, continuous computing solutions are main prerequisite for business continuity in contemporary business, denoting reliable and available enterprise-wide data access and they drive business agility.   Justification of tools and techniques used             Thus, for some extent, the medium – tools and techniques to be found will have to basically improve the range on which business companies will have to reach the ideal solutions to IT issues and challenges. However, there have taken advantage on the medium as it does improve their chances of doing well in respective industries and that some companies are opting to indulge in IT methods found in the web. (McAlister and Turow 2002, 505)  There are innovative ways of creating and maintaining better IT applications and usage of database functioning as the proposal intends to discover such IT solutions for business integration  and its overall value. The proposal wants to recognize techniques used in lieu of making appropriate analysis to such problems determined and impose useful solutions for business in support to their IT systems principle when being infused with technologies involving the internet. In doing so, such needed literature frameworks are possible in order to assume exclusive implications designed for business management. One could rake the alternate view that just when people begins to effectuate a more democratic approach to planning in which the processes of communication and interaction are given weight within the sanctions of IT solutions in order to dictate how and with what data, such communication is to proceed. Indeed, the notion of more and more layers of government-generated spatial data garnered with increasingly difficult means of data capture and distribution and manifestation of the complex means of data analysis and the ample position to challenge.   Analysis of the Problem             The database comprehensiveness refers to the system's number of maps along with extensive database that encompasses the distinctive elements of urban system and data relevant to planning issues and make it easier to analyze issues for access of the database. The databases for example of integrated land information systems usually have variety of features as the process objective is to satisfy sequence needs of several organizations or government agencies. The multiplicity of data as compared to the sheer amount of data as expected to give thorough usage of IT application such as Java or C++ with a huge coverage of application, and enhanced effectiveness of accessing the database. The variety of methods devised to assist in the expression of individual and group issues and preferences as existing techniques being part of consensus-building process includes the interacting groups, hushed deep techniques, survey, focus groups and dialectic groups (Kaiser et al. 1995, p. 270). The expression of preference in consensus building can be as simple as responding to a written questionnaire using the simulation techniques. In the intended custom, range of planning guides promote the use of IT structuring to record group input as for example things that have good features that should be protected.             The proposal looks such ways in which computerized information systems have impacted modern business organizations. While the influence of these systems on organizations in general has been both powerful and wide ranging, this article focuses primarily on how organization structures have specifically been impacted. To properly frame the various issues that are addressed, this article briefly traces early computers, and mentions their development by generations. Over the decades, both computer systems and organization structures have moved from a centralized to a decentralized design as there major implications in what organizations are capable of doing in the face of a turbulent environment by adopting organic and network structures. Thus, such support provided by information technology that allowed autonomy and distribution of responsibility. A review of information system architecture and organizational form is made to underscore a natural compatibility or fit between information systems and organization structures. In conclusion, attention is drawn to the ways information systems are likely to create organizational interfaces between an organization's suppliers and customers, and how this may result in radically new structures. The combination of increased computing power, powerful software, and continuously falling hardware prices became a very attractive proposition for business organizations and onwards installations in businesses increased rapidly. Thus, IT process through computers have been used to systematize and solve problems in diverse areas of business including planning, distribution, operations as well as management, computer-based information systems and business organizations developed in unique and special ways.       Identification and Application of Research Methodologies               The study will be using the descriptive form of research. This means that the data acquired on this paper will be first hand and will be based on the actual observations made by the researcher. (Creswell, 1994 p. 342) In this regard, both qualitative and quantitative data will be taken to ensure that the analysis will be well covered. The primary research instrument will be the researcher-made questionnaire given to randomly selected respondents. The secondary data will come from articles and journals tackling IT concepts and theories as well as systems techniques and its appropriate solutions for business success. The study procedure must be explained to the participants. Reassurances must be made to them like their answers will be taken in anonymously and that their answers will remain between the participant and the interviewer. Also, questions that they think might not be appropriate for them to answer can be left out if they chose to. Primary and secondary data will be used in the study.  Primary data will be consisted the answers to the questionnaires of the samples while secondary data will be consisted the research done by the researcher including interviews held to compile pertinent information about the problem of the study. Quantitative and qualitative data will be analyzed.  Quantitative will be sourced to the primary data gathered and will be undergone into compilation, frequencies, percentages and determination of relationships. Qualitative data will come from the open-ended questions in the questionnaire that will reflect the personal opinions of respondents not included in the selection, data will be significant when quantitative data is discovered to have deviations from the hypothesized variables.     Critical reflection on the legal, ethical, and social considerations of research             It is clear that the move from centralized to decentralized information architectures, coupled with a similar move in organization structures, should be associated with each other because of the way both have such close similarities in their evolution. It must be remembered that both computers and organizations evolved and changed form for different reasons. IT systems evolved as due to the pressure and impact of communication technology, while organization structures evolved as they were impacted by a multitude of forces, including the environment, competition, and technology. How is it possible to evaluate and separate this relationship, between computers and organizations, into cause and effect? This is hard to do except to understand that evolving computer architectures impacted and enabled newer organizational forms, and over time changing organizational requirements impacted the shape and design of computer systems and architectures. The discussion so far has been to examine the evolution of computer architectures and organization structures separately. In the following sections we combine the separate evolutions and discuss the impact of the relationship between computers and organizations in two ways. First we discuss the impact of computers on organizations in the last few decades. This is then followed by analyzing, based on some conceptual and empirical studies, whether certain computer architectures are associated with certain types of organization structures.                 The impact of IT systems created shifts in power that were not anticipated before. In the initial stages of its introduction, the power of information was in the hands of the departments in which computers were installed, which was typically the accounting department. As information is power and realizing that power devolves upon those who gather, process and possess information. Accordingly, value of information as a commodity brings with it the potential to change the bases of power and create new ones. Over the years, the availability of decentralized information systems allowed organizations to go ahead and attempt to decentralize their structures to more effectively cope with their environments. As environments changed, generating new non-routine problems, managers at the strategic apex quickly became overloaded due to the high degree of centralization inherent in such structures. One of the ways to overcome these information bottlenecks was to restructure, distribute authority, and decentralize management that needs to be associated with information systems' capabilities provided a strong impetus and capability for organization structures to constantly reshape.                       Timetable   Activity Month                                                                                          Sep Oct Nov Dec Search for Related Literature         Selection of the  Topic         Definition of the Problem         Development of the Objectives         Selection of Methodology         Check the availability of resources         Verify the accessibility of the resources         Write the draft of the proposal         Prepare interview schedule         Secure adviser's approval         Do the needed revisions         Test research tool validity         Select the study sample         Conduct research proper         Administer research tools         Do the assessment techniques         Gather and analyze results         Do the necessary data presentation         Interpret findings         Preparation of the final report         Formulation of conclusions and recommendations         Preparation of the table of content, appendices         Editing and Final Formatting         Printing                                                                 Project Outline     Title Page Abstract Table of Contents   Chapter I.                     The Problem and Its Background A.  Introduction B.  Statement of the Problem C.  Statement of the Objectives D.  Significance of the Study E.  Scope and Limitation II.                   Review of Related Literature A.  Review Literature B.  Literature Review Synthesis III.                  Methodology A.  Research Design B.  Samples C.  Sampling Technique D.  Methods and Procedures E.  Data Analysis Methods IV.               Data Presentation and Analysis V.                 Summary, Conclusion Implications and Recommendations VI.               Bibliography VII.              Appendices       Critical Evaluation                 The proposal will trace the evolution of changing information system architectures and their impact on organizations. It has suggested that changes in organizational structure, strategy, and decision-making processes have been possible due to changes in computer technology and design. In today's context, relationships are explained from the point of view of computer technology as roles of Internet is examined and how it is becoming a great leveler of size and magnitude allowing business to play roles that were hitherto not available to small firms. In short, IT ways is changing the very fabric and texture of competition as we know it. In programming paradigm, the main agents or objects of the application must be identified. The objects have data and methods which describe their features and behavior. An object-oriented program is implemented as a set of classes and the objects are created by class instantiations. In certain way, it is possible to extend and reuse classes in many applications by adding new variables and methods to describe more specific concepts in the class hierarchy. In procedural languages, the application is decomposed in functions and procedures. There consists of defining and implementing abstract data a type hierarchy. Abstract types are defined by data and associated procedures to manipulate the data. The inheritance principle with C++ virtual classes introduces an important generalization feature. Pointers to higher level objects of the class hierarchy can represent lower levels ones in application programs.         Personal Development Plan   Definition of Research Objective             The need to acquire useful research evidences and information and the finding out of certain possibilities for having IT solutions for business designed for knowing possible information system issues of such process. Thus, the importance of studying and realizing as well as applying knowledge and information discovered from research investigations and related literatures also the searching for relationships that are vital for understanding and recognizing the study's focus and purpose.   Definition of strengths and weaknesses             It is essential to use the media of the Internet in order to keep up with the rapidly changing technology, either in terms of exchanging information, or designing and delivering the products. In the Web-application server domain, several methods have been devised to let a Web server process the user input, to run custom programs and to serve dynamic contents in response to client requests. In the study, the process for implementation of the Internet-based design system using Java servlets/applets is described. The utilization of other techniques related to this project such as Java and protocol are to be presented.             Identification of developmental needs             The data to be gathered will be tallied by the researcher and will be encoded in the computer.  Hard copy will be printed to ensure that files are kept including the questionnaire responses of the sample.  Frequencies will be computed into percentages and will be presented through graphs, tables and textual arrangements.  The latter will clarify the graphs and tables.  Data will also undergo interpretation to determine the causal relationships of the predetermined independent and dependent variables.  Such data will form the heart of the findings of the study and will indicate the applicability of the research. The research study anticipates discovering such realization and actualization of IT systems as the study will integrate imperative and critical points to be reflected in the research analysis and discussion of research findings and be able to meet the guidelines and procedures as duly recommended.   Definition of time slots (timescales) for deliverables within the research proposal             The first month will be dedicated on the knowing more about the problem of the research. This will be followed an in-depth literature search on the internet and local libraries. Literature search will continue for as long as four months. The three among those four months will also be dedicated in knowing more about the research design and methods chosen for the study. The following months will be dedicated in data collection. Data analysis will soon follow. The data will be analyzed both qualitatively and or quantitatively with appropriate applied measures in order for data collection can be flexible and the topic will be better explained and elaborated.   Declaration of new skills acquired and old one that were strengthened             The skills for data gathering are to be categorized accordingly as it will occur accordingly. When it can be accomplished, there can be pivoting of proposal for further research about the topic reflecting IT systems – essential factor for integrated business solution. There needs for updating significant primary and secondary with proper occupation of modern tools and techniques and the need to strengthen on the overall research in its execution and style of completion. The proposal then, may possibly explain relevance of research approach and its effectivity to the served purpose respectively.