This document outlines the key topics covered in Chapter 1, including:
1) The role of information systems in organizations and their components of people, technology, processes, and data
2) Examples of how information systems are used across various industries and organizations
3) Ethical issues that can arise from information systems including privacy, crisis management, and reputation.
This document discusses business intelligence and analytics. It covers topics like data mining, web analytics, dashboards, and portals. It describes using internal and external data sources for analytics. Techniques include online analytical processing, statistics, modeling, and text mining. Analytics are used for decision making, goal seeking, optimization, and forecasting. Examples of analytics applications are discussed, along with challenges. The document also discusses fraud detection and the relationship between social media and TV ratings.
CHAPTER - 1 - Information Management.pptxPrabadeviMN
This document provides an overview of key concepts from Chapter 1 of the textbook "Essentials of Management Information Systems". It discusses how information systems are transforming business through globalization, how they are essential for running businesses, and what components make up an information system. It also outlines several business objectives for investing in information systems, such as operational excellence, new products/services, customer intimacy, improved decision making, competitive advantage, and survival. Finally, it defines key terms like information technology, information system, data, and information.
This document discusses the role of information systems in business and management. It covers how information systems have transformed organizations by enabling globalization, the rise of the information economy, changes to the business enterprise, and the emergence of the digital firm. The challenges of building and using information systems are also examined, including designing competitive systems, understanding global requirements, and ensuring user control and ethical use of systems. Information systems are defined and their functions explained, demonstrating how they support business processes and decision making.
This document discusses collaboration technologies and their benefits. It provides an example of how ABB used an enterprise social network called Inside+ with Yammer, Office 365 and SharePoint to improve knowledge sharing, innovation and collaboration across its dispersed workforce. The system demonstrated how IT can help organizations improve performance and competitiveness through better collaboration. It also outlines some of the business benefits organizations can realize from collaboration technologies like increased productivity, quality, innovation and customer service.
The document discusses various topics related to management information systems and digital transformation, including:
1. It describes different types of information systems such as transaction processing systems, management information systems, decision support systems, and executive support systems that serve different management groups.
2. It discusses how enterprise applications like ERP systems, SCM systems, CRM systems, and KMS can link the entire organization and improve processes.
3. It covers the importance of collaboration, social business, and how tools like social networking, wikis, and cloud services can facilitate knowledge sharing and innovation.
The document discusses the importance of information systems in business and careers. It covers key topics like how information systems are transforming business through globalization, the components of an information system, and the role of technology, people and organizations. It also presents a four-step problem solving method and emphasizes the need for critical thinking skills.
This document provides an overview of chapter 1 from a textbook on information systems in business. It discusses how information systems are transforming business through mobile digital platforms, big data, and cloud computing. It also explores how information systems help achieve operational excellence, develop new products and services, gain customer intimacy, improve decision making, achieve competitive advantage, and ensure survival. The document defines an information system and explains that it is comprised of interrelated components that collect, process, store and distribute information to support decision making. It also discusses the input, processing, output, and feedback functions of information systems.
This document provides an overview of key topics that will be covered in Chapter 1 of the textbook, including:
- How information systems are transforming business through mobile platforms, big data, and cloud computing.
- The role of information systems in achieving strategic business objectives like operational excellence, new products/services, customer intimacy, improved decision making, competitive advantage, and survival.
- What constitutes an information system, how it works through input, processing, output, and feedback activities, and why complementary organizational and management components are also important.
This document discusses business intelligence and analytics. It covers topics like data mining, web analytics, dashboards, and portals. It describes using internal and external data sources for analytics. Techniques include online analytical processing, statistics, modeling, and text mining. Analytics are used for decision making, goal seeking, optimization, and forecasting. Examples of analytics applications are discussed, along with challenges. The document also discusses fraud detection and the relationship between social media and TV ratings.
CHAPTER - 1 - Information Management.pptxPrabadeviMN
This document provides an overview of key concepts from Chapter 1 of the textbook "Essentials of Management Information Systems". It discusses how information systems are transforming business through globalization, how they are essential for running businesses, and what components make up an information system. It also outlines several business objectives for investing in information systems, such as operational excellence, new products/services, customer intimacy, improved decision making, competitive advantage, and survival. Finally, it defines key terms like information technology, information system, data, and information.
This document discusses the role of information systems in business and management. It covers how information systems have transformed organizations by enabling globalization, the rise of the information economy, changes to the business enterprise, and the emergence of the digital firm. The challenges of building and using information systems are also examined, including designing competitive systems, understanding global requirements, and ensuring user control and ethical use of systems. Information systems are defined and their functions explained, demonstrating how they support business processes and decision making.
This document discusses collaboration technologies and their benefits. It provides an example of how ABB used an enterprise social network called Inside+ with Yammer, Office 365 and SharePoint to improve knowledge sharing, innovation and collaboration across its dispersed workforce. The system demonstrated how IT can help organizations improve performance and competitiveness through better collaboration. It also outlines some of the business benefits organizations can realize from collaboration technologies like increased productivity, quality, innovation and customer service.
The document discusses various topics related to management information systems and digital transformation, including:
1. It describes different types of information systems such as transaction processing systems, management information systems, decision support systems, and executive support systems that serve different management groups.
2. It discusses how enterprise applications like ERP systems, SCM systems, CRM systems, and KMS can link the entire organization and improve processes.
3. It covers the importance of collaboration, social business, and how tools like social networking, wikis, and cloud services can facilitate knowledge sharing and innovation.
The document discusses the importance of information systems in business and careers. It covers key topics like how information systems are transforming business through globalization, the components of an information system, and the role of technology, people and organizations. It also presents a four-step problem solving method and emphasizes the need for critical thinking skills.
This document provides an overview of chapter 1 from a textbook on information systems in business. It discusses how information systems are transforming business through mobile digital platforms, big data, and cloud computing. It also explores how information systems help achieve operational excellence, develop new products and services, gain customer intimacy, improve decision making, achieve competitive advantage, and ensure survival. The document defines an information system and explains that it is comprised of interrelated components that collect, process, store and distribute information to support decision making. It also discusses the input, processing, output, and feedback functions of information systems.
This document provides an overview of key topics that will be covered in Chapter 1 of the textbook, including:
- How information systems are transforming business through mobile platforms, big data, and cloud computing.
- The role of information systems in achieving strategic business objectives like operational excellence, new products/services, customer intimacy, improved decision making, competitive advantage, and survival.
- What constitutes an information system, how it works through input, processing, output, and feedback activities, and why complementary organizational and management components are also important.
The document outlines the key learning objectives of Chapter 1 which introduce fundamental concepts of information systems. It provides examples of how information systems support business functions at a company called Sew What? Inc. The chapter defines what an information system is, the difference between an information system and information technology, and the types of systems used by businesses like transaction processing, management information, and expert systems. It also discusses the challenges and opportunities of information technology and careers in the field.
This document provides an overview of information systems in business today. It discusses how information systems are transforming business through mobile platforms, big data, and cloud computing. Information systems allow firms to achieve strategic objectives like operational excellence, new products/services, customer intimacy, improved decision making, competitive advantage, and survival. An information system consists of people, procedures, software, hardware, data, and networks that collect, transform, and distribute useful information. Managing information systems requires understanding their organizational, management, and technical dimensions.
1) Information systems affect nearly all business careers as firms increasingly rely on technology to gain competitive advantages. Accounting, finance, marketing, operations and management roles now require technical skills.
2) Common skills needed across careers include understanding how IT helps achieve objectives like efficiency and new products, working with databases, analyzing information, and addressing legal/ethical issues.
3) Specific careers also require skills in the technologies used, like enterprise systems for financial reporting, marketing databases, or production management software.
This document discusses achieving business success through technology and information. It covers 5 chapters: business driven technology, identifying competitive advantages, strategic initiatives for implementing advantages, measuring strategic initiative success, and organizational structures supporting initiatives. The first chapter discusses how information technology impacts business operations and cultures. It defines information technology, management information systems, and how data is converted to information and business intelligence. The chapter also covers how IT resources are used and different information cultures.
The document provides an overview of information systems in business today. It discusses:
- How information systems are transforming business and why they are essential for running and managing organizations.
- The components of an information system including its management, organizational, and technology dimensions. Complementary assets are also important for ensuring information systems provide value.
- The academic disciplines used to study information systems, including technical approaches from computer science and behavioral approaches from other fields. Management information systems combines these perspectives.
Chapter 01 Information systems in global business todayVan Chau
The document provides an overview of information systems in business today. It discusses:
- How information systems are transforming business and why they are essential for running and managing organizations.
- The components of an information system including its management, organizational, and technology dimensions. Complementary assets are also important for ensuring information systems provide value.
- The academic disciplines used to study information systems, including technical approaches from computer science and behavioral approaches from other fields. Management information systems combines these perspectives.
Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm Sixteenth Editionc...SamahAyad4
This document discusses how information systems are transforming business and defines what an information system is. It notes that by June 2018 over 160 million businesses worldwide had websites and 1.8 billion people shopped online generating $2.9 billion in sales. An information system is defined as interrelated components that manage information to support decision making, analysis, and product creation using data, processing, output, and feedback. The dimensions of information systems are organizations and their unique structures, management and how they set strategies, and technologies like hardware, software, and networks.
This document provides an overview of key concepts about information systems. It discusses how information systems are transforming business and why they are essential. It defines an information system and its components, including the organizational, management, and technology dimensions. It also explains how complementary assets are needed to ensure information systems provide value. Finally, it discusses the academic disciplines used to study information systems, including their technical and behavioral approaches.
This document provides an overview of key concepts about information systems. It discusses how information systems are transforming business and why they are essential. It defines an information system and its components, including the organizational, management, and technology dimensions. It also explains how complementary assets are needed to ensure information systems provide value. Finally, it discusses the academic disciplines used to study information systems, including their technical and behavioral approaches.
Evolving an Enterprise Architecture Practice - Spring 2015 v02 FinalJerry Sayre
This document provides an overview of Mutual of Omaha's enterprise architecture practice. It discusses the evolution of their enterprise architecture to become more business and strategy-centric. It then summarizes the key components of their enterprise architecture, including their business architecture, information architecture, application architecture, and technical architecture. The business architecture section focuses on their business model, capabilities, processes, and how these fit together. The information architecture section outlines their data architecture and approach. The application architecture section describes their approach to applications across mobile, web, and cloud. Finally, the technical architecture section notes their application portfolio management.
This chapter discusses measuring the success of strategic initiatives through the use of information technology metrics. It distinguishes between efficiency metrics, which measure the performance of IT systems, and effectiveness metrics, which measure the impact of IT on business processes. Common types of efficiency metrics include throughput, transaction speed, and availability, while effectiveness metrics include usability, customer satisfaction, and conversion rates. The chapter also covers benchmarking, strategic initiative metrics for areas like web sites, supply chain management, and customer relationship management. It provides an opening case study on how Apple could use various metrics to improve its business.
MIS Ch 01 Business Information Systems in Your Career.pdfMohamedMandour29
This chapter discusses how information systems are transforming business and careers. It defines key terms like data, information, and knowledge. An information system is comprised of interrelated components that collect, manipulate, and disseminate data to support decision making. Information systems have people, organization, and technology dimensions. Businesses invest in information systems to achieve objectives like operational quality, new products/services, customer understanding, improved decision making, competitive advantage, and survival. The chapter provides examples of how companies like Walmart, Apple, Verizon, and Toyota use information systems.
The document discusses developing marketing information through internal databases, competitive marketing intelligence, and marketing research. It covers obtaining secondary and primary data, different research methods like surveys, experiments, and tracking online behavior. Sampling plans and interpreting findings are also discussed. The goal is to gather relevant information from various sources to inform marketing decisions.
1. Dee Clark is the director of hospital sales marketing at Emerson Pharmaceuticals and needs to quickly distribute information to the company's 450 salespeople, such as details on new drugs, seminars, and presentations.
2. Information systems can be used to disseminate information quickly and easily to salespeople. A blog is one way Clark could share product news, competitive threats and responses, and recent successes with the sales team.
3. This chapter discusses key concepts around information systems including what an information system is, the difference between information systems and information technology, how business professionals can use information systems, new opportunities in the field, and the importance of information security. This knowledge can help both Dee Clark
Slide deck from a webinar presented by Earley Information Science on "MDM - The Key to Successful Customer Experience Management." Featured speaker is EIS Director of Delivery Services, Tim Barnes.
This document provides an overview of an information systems course. It covers three key topics:
1. How information systems are transforming business through emerging technologies like mobile platforms, big data, and cloud computing. It also discusses opportunities from globalization.
2. The role of information systems in achieving strategic business objectives like operational excellence, new products/services, customer intimacy, and competitive advantage.
3. Perspectives on information systems, including their organizational, management, and technology dimensions in a business. It frames information systems as creating value by supporting decision making and business processes.
This practical presentation will cover the most important and impactful artifacts and deliverables needed to implement and sustain governance. Rather than speak hypothetically about what output is needed from governance, it covers and reviews artifact templates to help you re-create them in your organization.
Topics covered:
- Which artifacts are most important to get started
- Important artifacts for more mature programs
- How to ensure the artifacts are used and implemented, not just written
- How to integrate governance artifacts into operational processes
- Who should be involved in creating the deliverables
Digital-Warriors-Marketing Roadmap with Big Data AnalyticsJaysonBowden
This document outlines a presentation on driving marketing programs with big data analytics. It discusses the evolution of analytics, provides a 4-step roadmap for implementing big data marketing, and reviews some key risks. The 4 steps are: 1) proof of concept, 2) datatification, 3) governance, and 4) consumerization. Each step provides critical people, process, and technology considerations. The presentation also reviews big data enablers and provides references for further information.
Attain a unique identity and become the most aspiring Information Technology company
•for our customers by becoming a trusted partner,
•for our employees by creating a challenging and rewarding work culture,
• driven by our passion to improve the lives of destitute children”.
The document outlines the key learning objectives of Chapter 1 which introduce fundamental concepts of information systems. It provides examples of how information systems support business functions at a company called Sew What? Inc. The chapter defines what an information system is, the difference between an information system and information technology, and the types of systems used by businesses like transaction processing, management information, and expert systems. It also discusses the challenges and opportunities of information technology and careers in the field.
This document provides an overview of information systems in business today. It discusses how information systems are transforming business through mobile platforms, big data, and cloud computing. Information systems allow firms to achieve strategic objectives like operational excellence, new products/services, customer intimacy, improved decision making, competitive advantage, and survival. An information system consists of people, procedures, software, hardware, data, and networks that collect, transform, and distribute useful information. Managing information systems requires understanding their organizational, management, and technical dimensions.
1) Information systems affect nearly all business careers as firms increasingly rely on technology to gain competitive advantages. Accounting, finance, marketing, operations and management roles now require technical skills.
2) Common skills needed across careers include understanding how IT helps achieve objectives like efficiency and new products, working with databases, analyzing information, and addressing legal/ethical issues.
3) Specific careers also require skills in the technologies used, like enterprise systems for financial reporting, marketing databases, or production management software.
This document discusses achieving business success through technology and information. It covers 5 chapters: business driven technology, identifying competitive advantages, strategic initiatives for implementing advantages, measuring strategic initiative success, and organizational structures supporting initiatives. The first chapter discusses how information technology impacts business operations and cultures. It defines information technology, management information systems, and how data is converted to information and business intelligence. The chapter also covers how IT resources are used and different information cultures.
The document provides an overview of information systems in business today. It discusses:
- How information systems are transforming business and why they are essential for running and managing organizations.
- The components of an information system including its management, organizational, and technology dimensions. Complementary assets are also important for ensuring information systems provide value.
- The academic disciplines used to study information systems, including technical approaches from computer science and behavioral approaches from other fields. Management information systems combines these perspectives.
Chapter 01 Information systems in global business todayVan Chau
The document provides an overview of information systems in business today. It discusses:
- How information systems are transforming business and why they are essential for running and managing organizations.
- The components of an information system including its management, organizational, and technology dimensions. Complementary assets are also important for ensuring information systems provide value.
- The academic disciplines used to study information systems, including technical approaches from computer science and behavioral approaches from other fields. Management information systems combines these perspectives.
Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm Sixteenth Editionc...SamahAyad4
This document discusses how information systems are transforming business and defines what an information system is. It notes that by June 2018 over 160 million businesses worldwide had websites and 1.8 billion people shopped online generating $2.9 billion in sales. An information system is defined as interrelated components that manage information to support decision making, analysis, and product creation using data, processing, output, and feedback. The dimensions of information systems are organizations and their unique structures, management and how they set strategies, and technologies like hardware, software, and networks.
This document provides an overview of key concepts about information systems. It discusses how information systems are transforming business and why they are essential. It defines an information system and its components, including the organizational, management, and technology dimensions. It also explains how complementary assets are needed to ensure information systems provide value. Finally, it discusses the academic disciplines used to study information systems, including their technical and behavioral approaches.
This document provides an overview of key concepts about information systems. It discusses how information systems are transforming business and why they are essential. It defines an information system and its components, including the organizational, management, and technology dimensions. It also explains how complementary assets are needed to ensure information systems provide value. Finally, it discusses the academic disciplines used to study information systems, including their technical and behavioral approaches.
Evolving an Enterprise Architecture Practice - Spring 2015 v02 FinalJerry Sayre
This document provides an overview of Mutual of Omaha's enterprise architecture practice. It discusses the evolution of their enterprise architecture to become more business and strategy-centric. It then summarizes the key components of their enterprise architecture, including their business architecture, information architecture, application architecture, and technical architecture. The business architecture section focuses on their business model, capabilities, processes, and how these fit together. The information architecture section outlines their data architecture and approach. The application architecture section describes their approach to applications across mobile, web, and cloud. Finally, the technical architecture section notes their application portfolio management.
This chapter discusses measuring the success of strategic initiatives through the use of information technology metrics. It distinguishes between efficiency metrics, which measure the performance of IT systems, and effectiveness metrics, which measure the impact of IT on business processes. Common types of efficiency metrics include throughput, transaction speed, and availability, while effectiveness metrics include usability, customer satisfaction, and conversion rates. The chapter also covers benchmarking, strategic initiative metrics for areas like web sites, supply chain management, and customer relationship management. It provides an opening case study on how Apple could use various metrics to improve its business.
MIS Ch 01 Business Information Systems in Your Career.pdfMohamedMandour29
This chapter discusses how information systems are transforming business and careers. It defines key terms like data, information, and knowledge. An information system is comprised of interrelated components that collect, manipulate, and disseminate data to support decision making. Information systems have people, organization, and technology dimensions. Businesses invest in information systems to achieve objectives like operational quality, new products/services, customer understanding, improved decision making, competitive advantage, and survival. The chapter provides examples of how companies like Walmart, Apple, Verizon, and Toyota use information systems.
The document discusses developing marketing information through internal databases, competitive marketing intelligence, and marketing research. It covers obtaining secondary and primary data, different research methods like surveys, experiments, and tracking online behavior. Sampling plans and interpreting findings are also discussed. The goal is to gather relevant information from various sources to inform marketing decisions.
1. Dee Clark is the director of hospital sales marketing at Emerson Pharmaceuticals and needs to quickly distribute information to the company's 450 salespeople, such as details on new drugs, seminars, and presentations.
2. Information systems can be used to disseminate information quickly and easily to salespeople. A blog is one way Clark could share product news, competitive threats and responses, and recent successes with the sales team.
3. This chapter discusses key concepts around information systems including what an information system is, the difference between information systems and information technology, how business professionals can use information systems, new opportunities in the field, and the importance of information security. This knowledge can help both Dee Clark
Slide deck from a webinar presented by Earley Information Science on "MDM - The Key to Successful Customer Experience Management." Featured speaker is EIS Director of Delivery Services, Tim Barnes.
This document provides an overview of an information systems course. It covers three key topics:
1. How information systems are transforming business through emerging technologies like mobile platforms, big data, and cloud computing. It also discusses opportunities from globalization.
2. The role of information systems in achieving strategic business objectives like operational excellence, new products/services, customer intimacy, and competitive advantage.
3. Perspectives on information systems, including their organizational, management, and technology dimensions in a business. It frames information systems as creating value by supporting decision making and business processes.
This practical presentation will cover the most important and impactful artifacts and deliverables needed to implement and sustain governance. Rather than speak hypothetically about what output is needed from governance, it covers and reviews artifact templates to help you re-create them in your organization.
Topics covered:
- Which artifacts are most important to get started
- Important artifacts for more mature programs
- How to ensure the artifacts are used and implemented, not just written
- How to integrate governance artifacts into operational processes
- Who should be involved in creating the deliverables
Digital-Warriors-Marketing Roadmap with Big Data AnalyticsJaysonBowden
This document outlines a presentation on driving marketing programs with big data analytics. It discusses the evolution of analytics, provides a 4-step roadmap for implementing big data marketing, and reviews some key risks. The 4 steps are: 1) proof of concept, 2) datatification, 3) governance, and 4) consumerization. Each step provides critical people, process, and technology considerations. The presentation also reviews big data enablers and provides references for further information.
Attain a unique identity and become the most aspiring Information Technology company
•for our customers by becoming a trusted partner,
•for our employees by creating a challenging and rewarding work culture,
• driven by our passion to improve the lives of destitute children”.
How to Fix the Import Error in the Odoo 17Celine George
An import error occurs when a program fails to import a module or library, disrupting its execution. In languages like Python, this issue arises when the specified module cannot be found or accessed, hindering the program's functionality. Resolving import errors is crucial for maintaining smooth software operation and uninterrupted development processes.
How to Build a Module in Odoo 17 Using the Scaffold MethodCeline George
Odoo provides an option for creating a module by using a single line command. By using this command the user can make a whole structure of a module. It is very easy for a beginner to make a module. There is no need to make each file manually. This slide will show how to create a module using the scaffold method.
A workshop hosted by the South African Journal of Science aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers with little or no experience in writing and publishing journal articles.
Main Java[All of the Base Concepts}.docxadhitya5119
This is part 1 of my Java Learning Journey. This Contains Custom methods, classes, constructors, packages, multithreading , try- catch block, finally block and more.
Strategies for Effective Upskilling is a presentation by Chinwendu Peace in a Your Skill Boost Masterclass organisation by the Excellence Foundation for South Sudan on 08th and 09th June 2024 from 1 PM to 3 PM on each day.
This slide is special for master students (MIBS & MIFB) in UUM. Also useful for readers who are interested in the topic of contemporary Islamic banking.
This presentation was provided by Steph Pollock of The American Psychological Association’s Journals Program, and Damita Snow, of The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), for the initial session of NISO's 2024 Training Series "DEIA in the Scholarly Landscape." Session One: 'Setting Expectations: a DEIA Primer,' was held June 6, 2024.
How to Add Chatter in the odoo 17 ERP ModuleCeline George
In Odoo, the chatter is like a chat tool that helps you work together on records. You can leave notes and track things, making it easier to talk with your team and partners. Inside chatter, all communication history, activity, and changes will be displayed.
ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 42001, and GDPR: Best Practices for Implementation and...PECB
Denis is a dynamic and results-driven Chief Information Officer (CIO) with a distinguished career spanning information systems analysis and technical project management. With a proven track record of spearheading the design and delivery of cutting-edge Information Management solutions, he has consistently elevated business operations, streamlined reporting functions, and maximized process efficiency.
Certified as an ISO/IEC 27001: Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) Lead Implementer, Data Protection Officer, and Cyber Risks Analyst, Denis brings a heightened focus on data security, privacy, and cyber resilience to every endeavor.
His expertise extends across a diverse spectrum of reporting, database, and web development applications, underpinned by an exceptional grasp of data storage and virtualization technologies. His proficiency in application testing, database administration, and data cleansing ensures seamless execution of complex projects.
What sets Denis apart is his comprehensive understanding of Business and Systems Analysis technologies, honed through involvement in all phases of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC). From meticulous requirements gathering to precise analysis, innovative design, rigorous development, thorough testing, and successful implementation, he has consistently delivered exceptional results.
Throughout his career, he has taken on multifaceted roles, from leading technical project management teams to owning solutions that drive operational excellence. His conscientious and proactive approach is unwavering, whether he is working independently or collaboratively within a team. His ability to connect with colleagues on a personal level underscores his commitment to fostering a harmonious and productive workplace environment.
Date: May 29, 2024
Tags: Information Security, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 42001, Artificial Intelligence, GDPR
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On entering the world of information systems, you may ask what you need to know about that world, and what is important for your success. Most of you are already very connected, with computers, cell phones, software, and Internet access, so you have a head start on understanding how systems like these are critical for every organization. However, you may not know what is behind the scenes—not the electronics or program code, but the real story of how information systems spring to life, how we can leverage them, and where we can take them in the future.
This opening chapter highlights information systems in action, the nature of information itself, and the four components of every information system. You will see how the IS discipline is evolving and why a solid understanding of this subject will give you a special edge, regardless of your major or career path.
The material in this chapter will enable you to:
Describe the main roles that information systems play in organizations.
Compare the terms data, information, and knowledge and describe three characteristics that make information valuable.
Describe the four main components of an information system and the role that each plays.
Identify several research areas that are studied in the discipline of management information systems (MIS).
Provide examples of how managers in business, nonprofit organizations, government, and the IT department depend on knowledge of information systems.
6. Explain how information systems present both promises and perils, and pose ethical questions.
Information, whether or not Google makes it accessible, is an organization’s most important asset. Creating, capturing, organizing, storing, retrieving, analyzing, and acting on information are fundamental activities in every organization. The skill with which you carry out those tasks will be the deciding factor, not just for your company’s success, but for your own. Like the information they manage, information systems cover a very broad scope and contribute to many different activities in an organization. For example:
• American Idol launched a smash hit by engaging over 100 million television viewers around the world in an unusual kind of decision making. Hopeful singers compete each week, and audience members cast a vote for their favorite by phoning or sending text messages to the hotline. An information system tallies the results.
• Hurricane Sandy coincided with the November 2012 elections in the US, and many people could not make it to the polls. New Jersey allowed email voting, but officials were overwhelmed with the volume. Information systems are playing a more important role every year as glitches and security concerns are resolved.
• Walmart, one of the world’s biggest companies, pioneered the globe’s most efficient information system to track shipments as they move from supplier factories to warehouses to retail stores. Tags attached to pallets transmit information wirelessly, so Walmart execs know exactly where merchandise is in the supply chain.
Multinational firms, small businesses, nonprofits, governments, volunteer organizations, self-employed entrepreneurs, universities, and every other type of organization relies on information systems for a host of reasons, and they continue to adapt, expand, and interconnect them to achieve their strategic objectives. These systems play critical roles in several contexts:
Operations management
Customer interactions
Decision making
Collaboration on teams
Strategic initiatives
Individual productivity
Every successful organization must excel at operations management, which involves the design, operation, and improvement of systems the organization needs to deliver its goods and services. Some of these deal with several very basic functions that are part of every business. Information systems are crucial for tracking employee payroll, taxes, benefits, and timesheets. Accounting information systems are essential to track accounts receivable, to process transactions, to procure goods and services, and to pay suppliers. Organizations also must manage their assets and inventories.
Information systems designed to handle the processes involved in these functions must also meet compliance standards set by governments and other regulatory agencies, which may change from time to time, and also vary by country or state. Reports must be filed, audits must be passed, and changing regulations must be followed.
Depending on their missions, organizations also need information systems to manage industry specific operations.
Achieving excellence in operations can provide enormous cost savings and competitive advantage, as companies strive to shave every extra cost out of their processes without sacrificing quality.
Interactions with customers, clients, students, patients, taxpayers, citizens, and others that come to your organization desiring a product or service are fundamental to success. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems, discussed in Chapter 5, build and maintain relationships and support all the processes that underlie them.
Brick-and-mortar retail stores need a sales system that identifies each product in the shopper’s basket, tallies the total, feeds the data to the inventory system, and accepts various kinds of payment. Web-based front offices and online self-service applications transform an organization’s relationships with its customers, freeing them from most routine types of direct contact. The information system processes often mimic the brick-and-mortar versions, with “shopping carts” and “checkouts” clearly labeled.
For example, Amazon.com includes recommendations based on previous purchases, encouragements to “review this book” or “rate this item,” special discounts and coupons, storage space for your wish lists and gift ideas, and many other innovative features to map out your preferences and build a stronger relationship. All of this data contributes to Amazon’s customer relationship management excellence, generating an enormous capacity to understand each person, make recommendations, and predict behavior.
Information systems support data-driven decision making, which draws on the billions of pieces of data that can be aggregated to reveal important trends and patterns. Business intelligence, which collectively refers to all the information managers use to make decisions, can come from many sources beyond the organization’s own operational systems. Decision support and business intelligence are discussed in Chapter 7.
Collaboration and teamwork have considerable support from innovative information systems that allow people to work together at any time and from any place. Geographically dispersed participants can hold online meetings, sharing documents and applications, and interacting using microphones, video cameras, and whiteboards. Social networking sites support online communities of people who create profiles for themselves, form ties with others with whom they share interests, and make new connections based on those ties. The huge success of social networks has prompted many corporations to adopt them.
Developing information systems to support collaborative human activities takes considerable ingenuity and attention to the ways in which people really work together. The information systems that support virtual teamwork and collaboration are explored in Chapter 8.
Information systems potentially play their most valuable role when they are integrated closely with strategy and tied to the major initiatives that will help achieve strategic objectives, a topic discussed in Chapter 2.
Competitive advantage, which is anything that gives a firm a lead over its rivals, can be gained through the development and application of innovative information systems. Increasingly, these systems are a core feature of a company’s strategic vision. Indeed, that vision must be shaped to some extent by what information systems can achieve today and what is possible for the future.
Strategy is equally important to nonprofit organizations and government agencies, and their information systems break considerable new ground by offering new services to the public, increasing access for all citizens, streamlining operations, reducing costs, and improving decision making.
Tools to help people improve their own productivity on the job and in life abound, from the smartphones that combine voice calls with web browsing, contact databases, e-mail, music, and games, to the many software applications that eliminate tedious work. Word processing has transformed work in every organization, and offers numerous tools and add-ons that can further improve individual productivity.
To improve productivity at work, people can choose from a variety of computer software and electronic devices. It is best to select carefully based on the functions you need most, integration with your favorite applications, ease of use, and short learning curves.
Data refers to individual facts or pieces of information, and information refers to data or facts that are assembled and analyzed to add meaning and usefulness.
For example, a single high-temperature reading of an incoming patient at Patient First, a 24-hour walk-in clinic, is one piece of data. But entered into the patient records information system, and combined with patient’s other symptoms and previous medical records, it becomes far more valuable as a diagnostic tool. Even more value can be obtained from this one temperature reading by aggregating it with the data from other patients entering the clinic that week. Tables and charts constructed from these data, analyzed by geographic region, may indicate a flu epidemic, or the first signs of a pandemic emergency. As information from many clinics, emergency rooms, and doctors’ offices pour in, and public health staff at the Center for Disease Control analyze maps, patient diagnoses, and many other facts, a pattern may emerge that leads to swift action.
Information can be further refined, analyzed, and combined to make it even more useful and valuable as actionable knowledge.
Three characteristics stand out, however, that contribute to making some information very valuable:
Timeliness matters a great deal in some settings, and real-time information often costs more. For example, people pay monthly fees to financial service companies to get up-to-the minute stock prices, rather than delayed price reports shown on free stock tickers.
Accuracy may seem like an obvious attribute for valuable information, but there actually are degrees of accuracy. The more accurate you want the information to be, the longer it may take to get it, making extreme accuracy a tradeoff to timeliness.
Completeness also adds value. However, striving for complete information may introduce delays that affect timeliness.
An information system brings together four critical components to collect, process, manage, analyze, and distribute information:
People
Technology
Processes
Data
We will now discuss each of these components.
The design, development, launch, and maintenance of any information system involves teams of people. The human element plays a crucial role in the success or failure of most information systems.
Leaders may be first to conceive the strategic objective the system will achieve, and weigh the pros, cons, costs, and benefits. Managers and staff from many departments in the organization participate on teams with technologists to design the details of a system, or evaluate commercial systems that might be purchased. The information technology team works closely with staff in other functional areas to launch user-friendly, people-oriented systems.
Many systems draw from a much wider pool of people, involving users as contributors and developers, not just customers or clients. User-generated content (UGC) makes up most of the information in systems such as eBay, Craigslist, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and many others. Some corporations, such as Intuit who makes TurboTax software, also involve users in online forums related to the product.
Information technology (IT), covered in Chapter 3, includes hardware, software, and telecommunications.
The servers in Google’s windowless data centers are examples of hardware, along with all the desktop computers, laptops, netbooks, cell phones, navigation devices, digital cameras, camcorders, personal digital assistants, and barcode scanners.
Software ranges widely, from the code needed to boot up a computer to very sophisticated programs with artificial intelligence and their own learning capabilities. The Internet and the World Wide Web unleashed an explosion of software creativity, transforming businesses around the globe. Organizations can create applications that their partners, suppliers, and customers can access wherever they are, eliminating boundaries that once existed.
The main role of telecommunications is to move electronic signals from one place to another, properly route traffic, and provide various services to improve transmission speeds, eliminate noise, increase security, or analyze traffic patterns. Various kinds of wires appear in much of the infrastructure, including orange fiber optic cables, the coaxial cables used by cable TV companies, and the slender copper telephone wiring common in homes. Wireless transmission is increasingly favored because of its flexibility and reduced cost, though speed still lags.
A business process is a set of activities designed to achieve a task, and organizations implement information systems to support, streamline, and sometimes eliminate business processes.
The nuances of processes and their steps are affected by thousands of decisions people make, and these are influenced by human motivations and the way people look at process improvements. Some organizations try to design systems that just reproduce what employees were doing, thereby reducing labor. However, a closer look at the process might lead to far more radical changes.
Business process management (BPM) is the field that focuses on designing, optimizing, and streamlining processes, taking into account the human element. Analysts look at processes from many different angles to weigh input from all stakeholders, suggest innovative approaches that leverage the power of information systems, and propose tweaks at every step.
Efforts to manage business processes also consider the overall organizational culture, and its approach to information systems. Business processes and organizational policies must be reviewed frequently because circumstances change quickly.
Data is the raw ingredient for every information system, and these raw facts can present themselves in an enormous variety of shapes and forms. Regardless of its initial form, incoming data is converted into digital format, which allows it to be integrated in information systems, read by computer programs, and shared across systems.
The study of information systems—how people, technology, processes, and data work together—is a lively discipline involving university faculty, private-sector analysts, and government agencies. The five areas that attract much of the interest include:
• Development of information systems
• IT in organizations
• IT and individuals
• IT and groups
• IT and markets
It is a young discipline—barely 25 years old—and is changing rapidly. Research on group collaboration, especially when team members are dispersed around the world, is far more important now because of virtual teams and globalization. The “people” component of information systems is clearly growing in importance, and this course stresses that element.
Information systems underlie most of the business activities and processes that thread their way through every functional business unit. Strategic initiatives involving information systems come from all parts of the organization to streamline processes, reduce costs, and increase revenue.
Whether your chosen career is marketing, finance, management, human resources, research, sales, law, medicine, manufacturing or as an entrepreneur, information systems will be fundamental to your success.
If your career leads you to a job in government, teaching, law enforcement, charities, or other nonprofit areas, information systems will also be critical. Information systems can make an enormous contribution to nonprofit organizations, such as analyzing the preferences and motivations of potential donors, distributing video messages worldwide through the net or to supporters’ cell phones, or creating “micro-volunteering” opportunities for people who can spend just a few minutes of their time helping with various causes through their cell phones.
The functional business unit responsible for planning, managing, and supporting information systems is often named Information Technology. Heading the department is the chief information officer (CIO). The CIO might report directly to the CEO, or to another vice president—often the one responsible for finance and administration. As a senior executive, the CIO’s job is not just to oversee the department, but to help shape the organization’s strategic goals and ensure the information systems contribute to them.
To improve communications between business managers and the IT department, the IT department will need to:
Focus on business goals
Avoid jargon
Communicate the value of IT
Emphasize return on investment
Be proactive
Embrace customer service
Be grounded in business
Business managers will need to:
Describe your end goal, not the means to get there
Learn how to contact IT for different purposes
Be familiar with how information systems are already supporting the organization
Network
Do their homework
Be an active partner
Microsoft surveyed 38,000 people in 200 countries to learn more about their productivity at work, and the role that technology played. Although people reported working an average of 45 hours a week, they considered 17 of those hours to be unproductive. People spend about 5.6 hours a week in meetings, but over two-thirds think meetings are not productive. Many respondents attributed their productivity to the technology they used, and their hours of unproductive time to their inability to use software that could help them schedule their time, organize their tasks, communicate effectively, and prioritize their work.
Information technology is the catalyst for building innovative information systems and achieving stunning gains in productivity for companies. It can also help you achieve a great deal more for yourself—in college, at work, and in your career. Mastering certain kinds of IT for your personal productivity is essential. Used wisely, these skills will also help you distinguish yourself in college and in the workplace. They will also make it easier to maintain a healthy work–life balance, giving you more time for family, friends, and leisure.
Information systems are so powerful, and the data they contain so vast and personal, that everyone must appreciate the ethical issues involved in their development and use. Privacy breaches present major risks. For example, in the United Kingdom two computer discs were misplaced by government workers. The tiny platters contained personal data on 25 million residents, and their black market value was estimated at US$2.5 billion.
Reputations are also far more vulnerable, given the power individuals have to spread damaging information at lightning speed. Few corporations are equipped to respond to such blitzes—accurate or not—that are distributed through channels such as YouTube. Every organization’s crisis management team, responsible for identifying, assessing, and addressing threats from unforeseen circumstances, must be on high alert for signs of any online firestorms. The teams have very little time to take action.
The way modern information systems amplify any communication may put your own reputation and livelihood at risk as well. Any e-mail you send or photo you upload can be forwarded or posted online for millions to view, and for attorneys to collect as evidence. Text, photos and videos uploaded to your social networking site can easily be distributed to a far wider audience beyond your own network. It is also absurdly easy to make your own blunders, by sending e-mail to many more people than you intended.
Organizations rely on information systems for operations management, customer interactions, decision making, collaboration and teamwork, strategic initiatives, and individual productivity.
Data, information, and knowledge are terms along a continuum that reflect how raw facts can be combined, assembled, and analyzed to add meaning and value. Characteristics of information that add to its value are timeliness, accuracy, and completeness.
The four components of any information system are (1) people, (2) technology, (3) processes, and (4) data.
Interest in subjects such as the role of IT in markets and in group work has increased considerably.
Information systems contribute to success in every functional department, and in all different types of organizations.
Although information systems hold extraordinary promise, they also present risks and ethical concerns, especially because of amplification effects.
With annual net sales of over $3 billion, the world’s largest “floorless” exchange handles hundreds of millions of trades every day. Buys and sells happen so fast that each trade has to be time-stamped to the nanosecond. First launched in 2000, Nasdaq OMX is above all a technology company, and it successfully competes against the New York Stock Exchange on its breathtaking trading speed.
As in other businesses, improved information systems and technology drive prices down. In the early 2000s, NYSE and Nasdaq OMX shared 90% of the market, but competition pushed that figure down to 45%. Anna Ewing, the Nasdaq OMX CIO, stresses the need to find other revenue sources, and relies on her IT department to support new business strategies. She led the drive to sell Nasdaq’s technology to other countries so they could start their own “floorless” exchanges.
Nasdaq’s focus on technology and high-speed trading were reasons, Zuckerberg chose to use that exchange to take Facebook public in 2012. During the first trading day, however, technical glitches at Nasdaq caused many delays and chaos, and the exchange had to switch to a secondary system. After the first few days of trading, Facebook’s share price dropped, and those who invested suffered huge losses. Critics blamed poor decision making at Nasdaq for the costly mess. Nasdaq agreed to pay $62M to compensate losses. Another looming problem for Nasdaq OMX and other exchanges is computer trading based on algorithms, or “algo-trading.” While Nasdaq OMX and other exchanges compete for the growing number of algo-traders, analysts worry that the sheer technological speed introduces serious risks. When markets dropped a gut-wrenching 9% on one afternoon in 2010, some suspected a clumsy algo-trader who accidentally triggered the event.
Twitter, the micro-blogging service best known for trivial updates on everyday events, has a growing role in emergency response. The service empowers people with the ability to gather and disseminate information about emergencies and disasters, and this information can be timelier than anything government authorities or disaster response organizations can provide.
After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, a graduate student at the University of Colorado launched a project to improve Twitter’s usefulness, called “Tweak the Tweet.” The unstructured tweets about victims who needed help were repurposed into more structured messages with “hash tags”—keywords preceded by a pound sign (#). Computer programs can read these tags to categorize who is involved, what is needed, where the problem is, and what else might be happening. With this syntax, the tweets can be fed into disaster response systems that can aggregate information from many sources, mapping areas of need, location of victims, and sources of supplies.
Disaster response organizations recognize that people are relying more heavily on social media such as Twitter for support during emergencies. Social media are so prevalent that in one survey, more than a quarter of the respondents said they would send a direct Twitter message to emergency responders, not realizing that aid organizations are not well prepared to monitor Twitter and other services. They also have few means to assess the value of information received via social media.