(a) Operating System (b) Databases (c) Different kinds of Auctions (d) Organizational Transformations with IT (e) Components

of a Computer

OPERATING SYSTEM
An operating system is an integrated system of programs that manages the operations of the CPU, controls the input/output and storage resources and activities of the computer system, and provides various support services as the computer executes the application programs of users. Examples of popular modern operating systems
include Android, BSD, iOS, GNU/Linux, OS X, QNX, and Microsoft Windows.

Purpose of an Operating System Maximise the productivity of a computer system by operating efficiently Minimizes the amount of human intervention required during processing. Helps application programs perform operations like accessing a network, entering data, saving and retrieving files etc.

Operating Systems Functions

An operating system performs five basic functionsThe User Interface- The user interface is the part of the operating system that allows you to communicate with it so you can load programs, access files, and accomplish other tasks. Resource Management- An operating system uses a variety of resource management programs to manage the hardware and networking resources of a computer system, including its CPU, memory, secondary storage devices, telecommunications processors, and input/output peripherals. File Management- An operating syste contains file management programs that control the creation, deletion and access of files of data and programs. It also involves keeping track of the physical location of files on magnetic disks and other secondary storage devoces. Task Management- The task management programs of an operating system help accomplish the computing tasks of end users. The programs control which tast gets access to the CPU and for how much time.

Types of operating systems

Real Time - A real-time operating system is a multitasking operating system that aims at
executing real-time application.

Multi User- A multi-user operating system allows multiple users to access a computer system
at the same time. Time-sharing systems and Internet servers can be classified as multi-user systems as they enable multiple-user access to a computer through the sharing of time.

Multi-tasking vs Single tasking

A multi-tasking operating system allows more than one program to be running at the same time, from the point of view of human time scales. A single-tasking system has only one running program. Multi-tasking can be of two types: pre-emptive and co-operative. In preemptive multitasking, the operating system slices the CPU time and dedicates one slot to each of the programs. Unix-like operating systems such as Solaris and Linux support preemptive multitasking, as does AmigaOS. Cooperative multitasking is achieved by relying on each process to give time to the other processes in a defined manner. Distributed - A distributed operating system manages a group of independent computers and makes them appear to be a single computer Embedded - Embedded operating systems are designed to be used in embedded computer systems. They are designed to operate on small machines like PDAs with less autonomy. They are able to operate with a limited number of resources. They are very compact and extremely efficient by design.

COMPONENTS OF THE COMPUTER

A computer is a system, an interrelated combination of components that performs the basic system functions of input, processing, output, storage, and control, thus providing end users with a powerful information processing tool.

Fig 1: The components of a computer system

Input devices are hardware devices which take information from the user of the computer system, convert it into electrical signals and transmit it to the processor. The primary function of input devices is to allow humans to interact with the computer system. For instance a mouse allows the user to control the movement of the pointer (a common element in user interface design). Output devices take data from the computer system and convert it to a form that can be interpreted by humans. For instance a monitor creates a visual electronic display to output information created by the processor to the user. Processing devices are the components responsible for the processing of information within the computer system. This includes devices such as the CPU, memory and motherboard. Storage devices are components which allow data to be stored within a computer system. This includes devices such as hard disk drives and compact disk drives.

DATABASE
A database is an integrated collection of logically related data elements. A database consolidates records previously stored in separate files into a common pool of data elements that provides data for many applications. Database Structures The relationships among the many individual data elements stored in databases are based on one of several logical data structures, or models. Five fundamental database structures are the hierarchical, network, relational, object-oriented, and multidimensional models. HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE Relationships between records form a hierarchy or treelike structure. All records are dependent and arranged in multilevel structures. Thus all the relationships among records are one-to-many because each data element is related to only one element ablove it. NETWORK STRUCTURE Network structure allows many-to-many relationships among records; that is, the network model can access a data element by following one of several paths because any data element or record can be related to any number of other data elements. RELATIONAL STRUCTURE In relational model, all data elements with the database are viewed as being stored in the form of simple two dimensional tables, sometimes referred to as relations. MULTIDIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE The multidimensional model is the variation of the relational model that uses multidimensional structures to organise data and express the relationships between data. OBJECT ORIENTED STRUCTURE An object oriented model can be used to store data from a variety of media sources, such as photographs and text, and produce work, as output, in a multimedia format.

TYPES OF DATABASE
OPERATIONAL DATABASES Operational databases store detailed data needed to support the business processes and operations of a company.

DISTRIBUTED DATABASES Its a database in which storage devices are not at all attached to a common processing units. It may be stored in multiple Computers in the same physical location, or may be disbursed over a network of interconnected computers. EXTERNAL DATABASES Access to a wealth of information is available from many sources on the World Wide Web. When you use a search engine like Google or Yahoo to look up something on the Internet, you are using an external database.

DIFFERENT KIND OF AUCTIONS

Primary
English auction, also known as an open ascending price auction. This type of auction is arguably the most common form of auction in use today. Participants bid openly against one another, with each subsequent bid required to be higher than the previous bid. An auctioneer may announce prices, bidders may call out their bids themselves (or have a proxy call out a bid on their behalf), or bids may be submitted electronically with the highest current bid publicly displayed. In some cases a maximum bid might be left with the auctioneer, who may bid on behalf of the bidder according to the bidder's instructions. The auction ends when no participant is willing to bid further, at which point the highest bidder pays their bid. Alternatively, if the seller has set a minimum sale price in advance (the 'reserve' price) and the final bid does not reach that price the item remains unsold. Sometimes the auctioneer sets a minimum amount by which the next bid must exceed the current highest bid. The most significant distinguishing factor of this auction type is that the current highest bid is always available to potential bidders. The English auction is commonly used for selling goods, most prominently antiques and artwork, but also secondhand goods and real estate. Dutch auction also known as an open descending price auction. In the traditional Dutch auction the auctioneer begins with a high asking price which is lowered until some participant is willing to accept the auctioneer's price. The winning participant pays the last announced price. Sealed first-price auction, also known as a first-price sealed-bid auction (FPSB). In this type of auction all bidders simultaneously submit sealed bids so that no bidder knows the bid of any other participant. The highest bidder pays the price they submitted. This type of auction is distinct from the English auction, in that bidders can only submit one bid each. Vickrey auction, also known as a sealed-bid second-price auction. This is identical to the sealed first-price auction except that the winning bidder pays the second-highest bid rather than his or her own. In some ways this is similar to the proxy bidding system used by the Internet auction site eBay, where a participant who has bid more than any other bidder pays the current highest bid plus the current bidding increment, rather than the actual amount of their bid. Multiunit auctions sell more than one identical item at the same time, rather than having separate auctions for each. This type can be further classified as a uniform price auction or a discriminatory price auction.

Homogenous multiunit auction mainly work in three common auction mechanisms viz. Pay-as-you bid auction, Uniform price auction and Simultaneous ascending-bid auction.

Secondary
All-pay auction is an auction in which all bidders must pay their bids regardless of whether they win. The highest bidder wins the item. Bidding fee auction, also known as a penny auction, often requires that each participant must pay a fixed price to place each bid, typically one penny (hence the name) higher than the current bid. When an auction's time expires, the highest bidder wins the item and must pay a final bid price. Buyout auction is an auction with an additional set price (the 'buyout' price) that any bidder can accept at any time during the auction, thereby immediately ending the auction and winning the item. If no bidder chooses to utilize the buyout option before the end of bidding the highest bidder

wins and pays their bid. Buyout options can be either temporary or permanent. In a temporarybuyout auction the option to buy out the auction is not available after the first bid is placed. In a permanent-buyout auction the buyout option remains available throughout the entire auction until the close of bidding. The buyout price can either remain the same throughout the entire auction, or vary throughout according to rules or simply as decided by the seller. Mystery auction is a type of auction where bidders bid for boxes or envelopes containing various items, usually on the hope that the items will be humorous, interesting, or valuable. In the early days of eBay's popularity, sellers began promoting boxes or packages of random and usually low-value items not worth selling by themselves. Walrasian auction or Walrasian ttonnement is an auction in which the auctioneer takes bids from both buyers and sellers in a market of multiple goods. The auctioneer progressively either raises or drops the current proposed price depending on the bids of both buyers and sellers, the auction concluding when supply and demand exactly balance. As a high price tends to dampen demand while a low price tends to increase demand, in theory there is a particular price somewhere in the middle where supply and demand will match.

Reserve Auction ( an auction subject to Confirmation) In this scenario, the high bid is reduced, in effect to an offer not a sale. A minimum bid is not published, and the seller reserves the right to accept or reject the highest bid within a specified time -anywhere from immediately following the auction up to 72 hours after the auction concludes. Sellers predetermine the price at which the property will be sold and are not obligated to confirm a sale other than at a price that is entirely acceptable to them. The main disadvantage of a Reserve Auction is that prospective buyers may not invest the time and expense of due diligence when there is no certainty they will be able to buy the property even if they are the highest bidder.

Organizational Transformations with IT

Organizational Transformation is a Second-Order planned change by which organizations objectively and radically reform themselves to survive and grow in the ever-changing business environment. It calls for new organizational assumptions and values, which include the redefinition of organizational mission, strategy, management style, structure, processes and cultures. Today the advancement in information technology has created unparallel potential for organizations to enhance their performance, reach and ability to compete in the global market. In the same token, new business challenges and risks have emerged with the advancement of IT that changed established market rules and global economies. Organizations that couldnt adapt to the changing environment have found themselves in competitive-disadvantage position, and some vanished. Increasingly, IT has become a strategic organizational and management issue. Some of the notable factors are: Intensive market competition demanding for organizational efficiency and effectiveness. IT can be used to gain competitive advantage over rivals through reduced operating costs, improved product and service quality, create value added services and competitive intelligence; Globalization that require just-in-time communication, coordination and control among business entities. Information technologies have great potential to provide secured, accurate, reliable and speedy information exchange and sharing to reduce time and distance barriers in the global business; Organizational change/reconfiguration due to intensified market competition and globalization has become the major driving force for IT to take more strategic and centralized role. The consolidation of businesses through merger and acquisition demands flexibility to easily adapt to the changing environment, where the efficient utilization of IT provides cost efficiency and well-informed decision making; and The rapid advancement in ICT has brought high availability of information technologies and systems at low cost. The explosion of globally distributed networks, like internet, has created unparallel new business opportunities and demands organizations to reshape their strategic use of information technologies. The strong bond between IT and organizational transformation may be seen from three perspectives, these are: As a triggering force for large scale change, IT affects the scope and magnitude of required organizational change; IT enables organizations to be effectively reactive and adaptive to environmental changes, such as through business process reengineering; and IT drives organizations transformations to be proactive to change, introduce new capabilities and opportunities Companies in all industries are using computers to accomplish three broad and deep transformations: they're becoming more scientific, more orchestrated, and more self-organizing. Orchestration means designing how work will be done, then assuring that it actually is executed as designed. Once re-engineered processes got embedded in ERP and other enterprise systems it became much easier to ensure compliance. The workflows they imposed and the data they collected made the

mountains shrink and moved the emperor very close by. Applications for CRM, sales force automation, supply chain management, procurement, and so on have brought tight orchestration to every part of the company, and pushed it down to almost microscopic levels.

Thus IT plays an important role in the organisational transformation.