Management Information System

2007-05-29T16:00:00.000+07:00

Korean Traditional Drink and Cake Festival
March 30 ~ April 5, 2002

This festival will feature two of Korea's main traditional food cultural resources alcoholic beverages and rice cakes. Taking place in Gyeongju, the ancient city of the Shilla Kingdom, the event is filled with opportunities to observe, make and taste special wines and rice cakes, which will enhance people's understanding of the Korean culture and its regions. Visitors will find culture, Korean experts and a comprehensive selection of the entire country's traditional drinks and rice cakes exhibited in one venue. Many kinds of tools, materials and ingredients will be on display, proffering tasting opportunities of snacks warm from the steamers of the rice cake factory set up at the festival. Visitors are also invited to try their hand at making rice cakes. This colorful festival when combined with the wealth of cultural elements available in this historical city will be an enriching and memorable experience.

Main Events
Traditional alcoholic beverage and rice cake demonstration and tasting, beverage and rice cake exhibition, making beverages and rice cakes, equipment exhibition, exhibition of beverages and rice cakes native to sister cities, Make-your-own rice cake and beverages, Shilla traditional music performance, rice cake slicing contest and dough kneading demonstrations.
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DRINK

2007-05-29T15:53:00.000+07:00

dong-dong-ju With their meals, Korean rarely drink anything but a little water or poricha (barley tea). However, when they drink, they drink a wide variety of beverages. Tea and coffee shops abound. In addition to beer (several domestic and imported brands are readily available), Korea has many different types of traditional alcoholic drinks, with soju being the most popular. Other common drinks include makgeolli and dong-dong-ju (both whitish colored drinks made from rice or potatoes).

Korean Traditional Food

2007-05-29T14:58:00.000+07:00

The side dish of fermented vegetables continues to be an essential part of korean meal. Early kimchi dishes were relatively mild, spiced with fermented anchovies, ginger, garlic, and green onions. koreans still use these ingredients today, but the spice most closely associated with modern kimchi is red pepper powder. Korea boasts more than two hundred types of kimchi, all rich in vitamins, minerals, and proteins created by the lactic acid fermentation of cabbage, radish, and other vegetables and seafood.
The kimchi served at meal will vary according to region, season, and may differ according to the other dishes on the menu. A seaside region's kimchi will be saltier than that of a landlocked area, and summer cooks produce cooling water kimchis to contrast with the heartier cabbage kimchis of the autumn and winter and a delicate cucumber kimchi sits better beside a bland noodle dish than beside a robust beef stew. To understand kimchi at its simplest, think of it is as divided into two kinds: seasonal kimchi (for short-term storage, made from vegetables that are fresh in the markets at any given time) and Kimjang kimchi (for long-term storage, made in quantity in late autumn).

Korean Culture

2007-05-29T14:28:00.000+07:00

The Korean culture has continued many of the traditions and events that came into their culture generations ago. These very special aspects are what make Korea what it is today. Korea was first inhabited by many primitive tribes. Many were ancestors of the Mongolian culture. These tribes moved East into new lands where they began their new era. Many of the people living in Korea today are related to these first settlers. As time went on these tribes united to form a single culture. Since the start of this culture the most important thing has always been the family.

All things are done with the families permission. The eldest in the house is considered the most wise, and therefore makes most of the decisions. This tradition was started years ago, and is still being used today. Every relative in the family that is of the same blood is referred to as ilga. This means one house. Another term that is continually heard is tongjok. This is the group of paternal relatives. These relatives are a very tight knit group that, in many cases, live together in one home. Only paternal relatives can be in the tongjok. Maternal relatives can never join this group. The tongjok is mainly controlled with the property of the head family. In other words, the oldest living relatives take care of this group. Officials are appointed, and the family has a type of small government running the show. These officials hold special meetings where they discuss things ranging from ancestral rights to repair of graves. The final decisions of these meetings are made by the oldest living male. This leader takes care of things like funeral planning, festivals, graveside rituals, and helps with daily life.

Koreans take great pride in their ancestry and never forget the dead. From an early age the children are taught to respect their elders and the people who have passed away. Shrines are constructed in honor of the deceased and are maintained by the tonjok. The shrines are kept on sacred grounds that are consistently kept up. When walking in Korea you may see an area with beautiful trees or shrubs in a pattern. This is probably the place where a family buries their dead. When a parent dies in a family the eldest son is in the most mourning. He walks around with a hat made of reeds and covers his face with a fan. He goes about his daily life, but refrains from meeting people and calls himself a sinful man. The way Korean people treat their dead is just one of the many interesting things these people believe in.

When a Korean couple wishes to be married, a great deal of things happen. First, some marriages are still arranged. This is mainly found in the upper class society of Korea. Wealthy families wish for their children to be married to a son or daughter of a wealthy family. This way the marriage is more of a union between families than a union between two people. Social standing is very important in Korea. They believe wealth will bring a long, happy life. The arranged marriage gets started when a person with a great deal of information is appointed to find a spouse for a families son or daughter. This person researches candidates and comes to a conclusion. The two people have a small time of dating before they are told to marry. If there is a connection, these two people will go on with the marriage. In recent years, marriages between two people of different social classes are becoming much more common, but it is not the best way to go in the eyes of many families.

Most families in urban families have about 4.8 people in them. This is just the immediate family not the extended. In rural areas the families are slightly larger with 5.3 people. All the families live either with each other or near each other. These groups of families are called a clan. If the families are all living in one home there can be up to 4 generations living together. The homes are built with heavy squared posts at each angle of the house. Huge beams are used to support rafters for the ceiling. There is a main building in the middle or sometimes a court. This is the center of the home and is furnished with decorations and many flowers. The men and women have separate rooms on opposite ends of the house. Men are never allowed to enter the womens' courtiers. This is a private place where a woman can be alone. Each room throughout the home are similar to little apartments. Windows are made of paper and are very fragile.

Most people are seen wearing jackets all year round. As the climate changes they either add padding or take some away. Both men and women can be seen wearing pants. Some women, however, enjoy wearing skirts. Males sometimes choose to wear a vest in place of the jacket. The most common colors of the Korean people are white and light blue. The land of Korea is ideal for growing rice and many vegetables. These two food groups make up much of the food consumed. They also enjoy eating fish and meat. Mullet or barley sometimes takes the place of rice. This is most common in the poorer families dishes. Korea is also known for its strong spices. Korean people enjoy flavoring their food with red peppers or garlic. Korean people enjoy sports much like other cultures. One of the most common for males is wrestling. Their style is very different from other cultures. The two wrestlers tie their right legs with a rope 2 feet long and kneel down in front of each other. With their left hand they hold the end of the rope and with their right hand they hold the clothes of the opponent. They get up and push and pull one another until one falls down and is beaten.

When the first night of the new year comes everyone hides their shoes. This is because they believe a ghost will come down and try on everyones shoes. If it finds a pair it likes it will take them. The owner of the shoes will then have bad luck for the whole year. The Korean culture is one of the oldest cultures known. These people have many beliefs and traditions that are still being used today. These traditions are what make these people who they are. Life, death, and their relatives are very important to them and this is seen in their every day life.

Link: Korean Culture

Resources:

Chun, Shin-yong. Korean Society. Seoul, Korea: International Cultural Foundation, 1982.

Tae, B. Hung-Ha. Folk Customs and Family Life. Yonsei University Press, 1958.

By, Ryan Utterback

The MIS Job Today

2007-05-29T13:58:00.000+07:00

MIS personnel must be technically qualified to work with computer hardware, software, and computer information systems. Currently, colleges and universities cannot produce enough MIS personnel for business needs,and job opportunities are great. MIS managers, once they have risen through their technical ranks of their organization to become managers, must remember that they are no longer doing the technical work. They must cross over from being technicians to being systems managers who manage other people's technical work. They must see themselves as needing to solve the business problems of the user, and not just of the data-processing department.
MIS managers are in charge of the systems development operations for their firm. Systems development requires four stages when developing a system for any phase of the organization:
Phase I is systems planning. The systems team must investigate the initial problem by determining what the problem is and developing a feasibility study for management to review.
Phase II identifies the requirements for the systems. It includes the systems analysis, the user requirements, necessary hardware and software, and a conceptional design for the system. Top management then reviews the systems analysis and design.
Phase III involves the development of the systems. This involves developing technical support and technical specifications, reviewing users' procedures control, designing the system, testing the system, and providing user training for the system.
At this time, management again reviews and decides on whether to implement the system.
Phase IV is the implementation of the system. The new system is converted from the old system, and the new system is implemented and then refined. There must then be ongoing maintenance and reevaluation of the system to see if it continues to meet the needs of the business.

BACKGROUND

2007-05-29T13:51:00.000+07:00

Management Information Systems are to be coming more important, and MIS personnel are more visible than in the 1960s and 1970s, when they were hidden away from the rest of the company and performed tasks behind closed doors. So remote were some MIS personnel from the operations of the business that they did not even know what products their companies made. This has changed because the need for an effective management information system is of primary concern to the business organization. Managers use MIS operations for all phases of management, including planning, organizing, directing, and controlling.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

2007-05-29T13:29:00.000+07:00

Management Information Systems are those systems that allow managers to make decisions for the successful operation of businesses. Management Information Systems consist of computer resources, people and procedures used in the modern business enterprise. The term MIS stands for Management Information Systems. MIS also refers to the organization that develops and maintains most or all of the computer systems in the enterprise so that managers can make decisions. The goal of the MIS organization is to deliver information systems to the various levels of corporate managers. MIS professionals create and support the computer system throughout the company. Trained and educated to work with corporate computer systems, these professionals are responsible in some way for nearly all of the computers, from the largest mainframe to
the deskstop and portable PCs.