Mgmt 205 session two

1. Management
Information Systems
MGMT 205
Information systems and Management Information Systems

2. Session Objectives
 At the end of this session students should be able to:
 Understand what is an Information System (IS) - business and
problem solving perspectives.
 Explain what is meant by MIS.
 Differentiate between IS and IT.
 Know what opportunities for IS are developing today.
 Discuss the dimensions of information systems: organizational,
technological, people
 Globalization and technological changes
 The Role Of Information Systems In Business Today

3. Data and Information
 Data: raw facts e.g. description of things, events, activities, and
transactions; that are recorded, classified, and stored but are not
organized to convey any specific meaning that can be understood and
used.
 Information: Cluster of facts or data shaped into meaningful, useful
format.

4. What is an Information System?
 Information: A collection of processed data that are
meaningful and useful to human beings.
 A system is a group of related components that interact to
achieve some purpose.
 An Information system (IS) is a group of interrelated
components that interact to collect, process, store and
disseminate information to support decision making,
coordination, control, and analysis in an organization.

5. Components of an Information System
 Five-component framework:
 Computer hardware,
 Computer software,
 Data,
 Procedures,
 and People.

6. Functions of Information Systems
 Input: Captures raw data from organization or external
environment.
 Processing: Converts raw data into meaningful form.
 Output: Transfers processed information to people or
activities that use it.
 Feedback: Output returned to the appropriate people or
activities within the organisation to help them evaluate and/or
refine input.

7. Functions of Information Systems

8. Information System Defined
 An information system (IS) –
 is an assembly of computer hardware, software, data, procedures,
and people that interact to collect, process, store, and provide as
output, the information needed to support an organization.
 Business and Problem solving Perspective: IS is an organisational
and management solution, based on information technology, used
to address challenges posed by the environment. The system has
the power to provide solutions to challenges and problems in the
business environment.
 Hence, the purpose of information systems is to get the right
information to the right people, at the right time, in the right
amounts, and in the right format.

9. What is Management Information
Systems?
 Management Information Systems (MIS) is the study,
development and use of information systems that help
businesses achieve their goals and objectives.
 Management Information Systems (MIS) is the study of people,
technology, organizations and the relationships among
them. MIS professionals help firms realize maximum benefit
from investment in personnel, equipment, and business
processes.
 Management information system, or MIS, broadly refers to a
computer-based system that provides managers with the tools
to organize, evaluate and efficiently manage departments
within an organization.

10. Differentiate between IS and IT
 Information technology (IT) and Information systems (IS)
are two closely related terms, but they are very different.
 Information technology (IT) pertains to the hardware,
software, and data components that are used for the
purpose of producing information.
 Information systems (IS) is an assembly of hardware,
software, data, procedures, and people that produces
information.

11. The Role Of IS In Businesses Today
 Operational excellence
-Improvement of efficiency to attain higher profitability
 New products, services, and business models
-Enabled by technology
 Customer and supplier intimacy:
–Serving customers raises revenues and profits
–Better communication with suppliers lowers costs
 Improved decision making
–More accurate data leads to better decisions
 Survival
-Information technologies as a necessity of business

12. Growth in the Uses of Information
Systems
 Over time the role of information systems have increased in organizational
life.
 Early systems brought about mostly technical changes that were easy to
accomplish. Later, systems began to affect
managerial control and behaviour
and influence core institutional
activities.
 Now we are in the “digital firm”
era and information systems
extend far beyond the
boundaries of the firm to
include elements of its
external environment, such as suppliers, customers and competitors.

13. Information Systems Today
 The widening scope of IS has allowed for a growing interdependence between
Information Systems and the organization.
 The picture illustrates this new relationship between
organizations and information systems.
 This relationship becomes more critical when
planning for the organization’s future,
as what a business would like to
become is largely dependent on
what its systems will be able to
accomplish. For instance, an organization
setting the goal of becoming a high quality
or low cost producer will depend on
the kinds and quality of it’s
information systems.

14. Globalization and Technological Changes
 Four powerful changes has revolutionised the Business
environment:
 The emergence and strengthening of the global economy
 The transformation of industrial economies and societies into
knowledge and information based service economies via
technological advances and competences
 The transformation of the business enterprise through technology
 The emergence of the digital firm through the use of technology
 These all pose a number of new challenges to
organizations today

15. The Changing Contemporary Business
Environment
Globalization:
-Management and control in a
global marketplace
-Competition in world markets
-Global work groups
-Global delivery systems
Transformation of the Enterprise
-Flattening
-Decentralization
-Flexibility
-Location independence
-Low transaction costs
-Empowerment
-Collaborative work and teamwork
Transformation of Industrial Economies
-Knowledge and information based
economies
-New products and services
-Knowledge: a central productive
and strategic asset
-Time based competition
-Shorter product life
-Turbulent environment
-Limited employee knowledge base
Emergence of the Digital Firm
-Digitally enabled relationships with
customers, suppliers and employees
-Core business processes
accomplished via digital networks
-Digital management of key
corporate assets
-Rapid sensing and responding to
environmental changes.

16. The Emerging Digital Firm
 Electronic commerce uses the
internet and digital technology to
conduct transactions with
customers and suppliers.
 Electronic business uses these
technologies for the management
of the rest of the business.

17. The Network Revolution and The
Internet
 The world’s largest and most widely used network is the internet, which can
be defined as an international network of networks that are both commercial
and publicly owned. This global “network of networks” provides a highly
flexible platform for information sharing. Digital information can be
distributed at almost no cost to millions of people throughout the world.
 The internet is creating a new “universal” technology platform on which to
build all sorts of new products, services, strategies and organizations.
 The internet has reshaped the way in which information systems are being
used in business and daily life. It eliminates many technical, geographic and
cost barriers which wold otherwise obstruct the global flow of information.
 The world wide web is a system with universally ‘accepted’ standards for
storing, retrieving, and displaying information.

18. Impacts Of Information Systems
Positive Impacts Negative Impacts
Information systems:
can perform calculations or process
paperwork much faster than people.
can help companies learn more about the
purchase patterns and preferences of their
customers.
provide new efficiencies through services
such as automated teller machines (ATMs),
telephone systems, or computer-controlled
airplanes and air terminals.
have made possible new medical advances
in surgery, radiology and patient monitoring.
The internet distributes information
instantly to millions of people across the
world.
By automating activities that were
previously performed by people, information
systems may eliminate jobs.
Information systems may allow organizations
to collect personal details about people that
violate their privacy.
Information systems are used in so many
aspects of everyday life that system outages
can cause shutdowns of businesses or
transportation services, paralyzing
communities.
Heavy users of information systems may
suffer repetitive injuries and other health
problems.
The internet can be used to distribute illegal
copies of intellectual property.

19. Information Systems and Organizational
Change
 The growth in computing power and networks, including the Internet, allows
information to be instantly distributed within and beyond the organization.
 This has in turn facilitated the transformation of organizations in terms of
their structure, scope of operations, reporting and control mechanisms, work
practices, work flows, products and services – the emergence of the digital
firm.
 Flattening Organizations
 Separating work from location
 Reorganizing workflows
 Increasing flexibility of Organizations
 Changing management process
 Redefining Organizational boundaries

20. References
 David M. Kroenke (2012) Experiencing MIS. 3rd Edition,
Prentice Hall.
 David M. Kroenke (2010) MIS Essentials. 2nd Edition,
Prentice Hall.
 Kenneth C. Laudon and Jane P. Laudon (2009). Essentials
of Management Information Systems. 8th Edition, Pearson
Prentice Hall.

21. Exercises
 Case Study: Pg 33 Laudon