As a business professional, I should be able to recognize the fundamental components of information systems that encounter in the real world. I had chosen the Golden Screens Cinema (GSC) e-ticketing system as my research topic.
Background of Golden Screens Cinema(GSC)
Golden Screen Cinemas is acknowledged as the largest chain of cinemas in Malaysia and it has the credit of housing the largest 18 screen cinemas in Malaysia. The 18 screen cinemas in Malaysia comprises of Mid Valley Megamall, Utama, Berjaya Times Square, Summit USJ, Cheras Leisure Mall, IOI Mall, Selayang Capitol, Shaw Centrepoint, Terminal 1 in Seremban, Mahkota Parade in Malacca, Berjaya Megamall in Kuantan, Pelangi Leisure Mall and Summit Batu Pahat in Johor, Plaza Bukit Mertajam and Gurney Plaza in Penang, Cental Square in Sungai Petani, Ipoh Parade in Ipoh, Queensbay Mall in Penang(opening soon in 2007) and Kota Kinabalu in Sabah.

The Golden Screen Cinemas in Penang is located at Gurney Plaza, Penang has all the facilities of the Cineplex’s. The movie lovers can avail various facilities in Golden Screen Cinemas in Penang like concessions on popcorn, soft drinks and other snacks and apart from these it also offers 3 Glitter cafés and gift shops featuring wonderful gift items and other trendy stuffs.

Gurney Plaza Penang opened on 16, January 2004 and it is the second movie theater of Golden Screen Cinemas. Gurney Plaza, Penang is considered as the first multiplex in not only Penang but the entire Northern region. By spending RM 15, for each ticket the movie admirers can enjoy movies at the 80 seated premier classes with its own attached luxurious lounge. The seats have the special advantage of attached trays to keep snacks and drinks while enjoying the movie.

Introduction of GSC e-ticketing system
Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) is one of the biggest cinema operators in Malaysia. It has grown in leaps and bounds over the last two decades. The GSC has makes an excellent information system model. It serves up to millions of customer using its powerful e-ticketing systems. The customer can now books their tickets and reserving their seats by using this system. It become easier and more convenient compared to the old manual way. The customer now can book their tickets and then pay the tickets price by using credit cards, for example Eon cards, Visa cards and etc. This system is a time-saver. It saves people a lot of time. They no need to queue so long again to just buy a single ticket to watch their favourite movies. Besides that, the development of this system also ensures that no people were selling scalp tickets for double or triple the original price. As a conclusion, the e-ticketing system really helps a lot in boosting the sales of the tickets and provides a lot of benefit to the people.

2) Description of the GSC e-ticketing system activities:-
a) Input
An e-ticketing system input consists of the item that it receives for its collection. This data input may consist of the name of the movie display, time showing, price of the movie, the room number of the movie screens and etc.
At first you must register as a member of the GSC in order to book a ticket or purchasing a ticket. You need to sign up first. The sign up button was situated at the left hand sided box of the website (See Figure 1.1). When you click sign up, it will link you to a page which will need you to fill in all the personal information inside (See Figure 1.2). After you finish register, it will require you to verify the information from the e-mail that they had sent to your mail-box. After verifying, you now can choose either want to book ticket or directly purchase the ticket through online.

b) Processing
An e-ticketing system main process service revolves around purchasing tickets, booking and reserving seats for particular movies. If the seats have already full booking, it will show out to the customer.
If a person wants to book a ticket, here are the steps that the person need to perform:- 1. Sign up for a free account and log into www.gsc.com.my 2. Click on Showtimes and Ticketing -> E-ticketing 3. Select your cinema, movie and date. (See Figure 1.3) 4. Select the number of seats required and the time showing. (See Figure 1.4) 5. At last you need to confirm the reservation. (See Figure 1.5) If a person wants to purchase ticket, here are also the steps that needed to perform:- 1. Sign up for a free account and log into www.gsc.com.my 2. Click on Showtimes and Ticketing -> E-ticketing 3. Select your cinema, movie and time 4. Select the number of tickets required 5. Choose your seating 6. Confirm reservation and make payment.

That’s all there is to it! Remember that you must bring along the same credit card that you used to make payment and you must key in the IC number of the person who owns the GSC account not the person who owns the credit card.

They also accept payment through www.maybank2u.com.my as well. For the e-ticketing, currently only certain cinemas are supported:

* Penang – Gurney Plaza * Penang – Queensbay Mall * Penang – Sunway Carnival * Kuala Lumpur – Mid Valley * Kuala Lumpur – Berjaya Times Square * Petaling Jaya – 1 Utama New Wing

c) Output
An e-ticketing system outputs consist of any information that shown in the people who used it. It includes the tickets that has been printed out and shown to the people who bought it. It can also be a summary report, tickets sales record, the people’s purchasing tickets and reserving seats information and etc. After a person book a ticket, the system will provide a references number for that person (See Figure 1.6). The person needs to give the reference number to the counter in order to exchange for the booking ticket. The reference number and the ticket that collected was the output of the system.

d) Storage
E-ticketing system storage stores the movies info. For example, what is the story of the movie, the time of the movie shown and so on (See Figure 1.8). Other than that, the purchasing records of the people who bought it also recorded inside the system to finalise out which movie has recorded the highest sales and popular among the consumer.

e) Control
An e-ticketing system control includes periodically inventories checking, security features for the system (E.g. antivirus, spyware, malware and etc). It controls the system from being attack by virus or worms that can destroy the information inside the system. Besides that, it also prevents the hacker from hacking the customer information inside. Other than that, the system also provides some notices to inform the user or to prevent the user from facing difficulties when make payment or booking (See Figure 1.7).

Recommendation for the GSC e-ticketing system
In GSC, the e-ticketing system has already established as a powerful system that has fulfilled the needs and wants of the customer. Although it was a complete set up system, but the system still has weakness in it that need to be reorganised and repair. The weakness that I refer was the payment method. I had read from a person blog says that the person has online purchase the ticket from the GSC and would like to pay the payment through his Maybank credit card. But when he type on the credit card number it was unsuccessful and cannot access. It was a failure to the new payment method. I hope that the GSC will quickly fix up this problem by make sure that all the payment can be received successfully. Other than that, I also recommend that GSC can provide the e-ticketing system to all over the GSC in Malaysia and not just provide it in certain place only.

Conclusion
In nowadays, the e-ticketing system has been improving a lot compared to the last three or four years. Although the e-ticketing system still has its weakness and problem inside, but the e-ticketing system really helps a lot in boosting the sales of the tickets and provides a lot of benefit to the people.

References
●Electronic resources -Online Cinema Booking (GSC) [Rant], http://lotso.livejournal.com/95051.html, Date accessed 2/11/2009.
-Golden Screens Cinema, http://www.gsc.com.my/RD1/ns2.asp?search=thisisit, Date accessed 4/11/2009.
-Golden Screen Cinemas online booking, http://www.all-aboutshopping.com/2007/11/20/golden-screen-cinemas-online-booking/, Date accessed 4/11/2009.