THIS IS AN ICT MODULE

1. LECTURE NOTES 2
Information & Communications Technology

2. The Impact of Information &
Communication Technology
Business Environment
and Organizations

3. In recent times, technology has become an ever increasing
presence in the workplace.
More and more businesses, large and small, are trying to
incorporate the latest technology into their operations.
Information system departments are becoming critical
components of most organizations.
Information Technology arena is designed to make people
and organizations more knowledgeable, efficient, and/or
profitable.

4. The scope of technology that an organization can adopt or
employ is vast, ranging from simple, such as buying a personal
computer with a word processor, to investing in the latest state-
of-the-art computer-aided manufacturing machinery.
Incorporation of technology or information systems will
accompany change. Purposely, we have not said that they will
cause change because the reverse is also true.
Implementation of technological systems can either act as a
catalyst for change or be the means of achieving a desired
change.
A properly integrated system ideally will take into account the
impact on the organization before it is put into place.

5. Information Systems (IS) are dramatically changing the
business landscape. Although organization cultures and
business strategies shape the use of IS in organizations, more
often the influence is stronger than other way round.
IS significantly affects strategic options and creates
opportunities and issues; that managers need to address in
many aspects of their business.
The following are an outline of some of the key impacts of
technology and their implications on management: business
strategy, organization culture, organization structure,
management processes, work / tasks, and work
environment.
Each of these six impacts is explained in detail:

6. • Business Strategy – creates new opportunities for innovation in
products and services; collapsing time, distance and
unproductive processes
• Organization Culture – encouraging the free flow of information /
communication internally (employees) and externally (business
partners). Electronic Communication becoming popular.
• Organization Structures – enabling larger spans of control and
the flattening of organizations. Reduced levels of hierarchy
• Management Processes – providing support for complex decision
making processes (due to increased availability of information)
• Work / Tasks – becoming more mechanized and automated; as
opposed to manual processing
• The Workplace – allowing work from home and on the move, as
in telework

7. Business Strategy
ICT creates new opportunities for innovation in products and
services. Services which used to be delivered in person can
now be delivered over networks. Among the key levers are:
• simultaneity: making information instantly available in
several systems
• time extension: offering 24 hour a day; 365 days a year
service
• portability: taking service and products closer to the user
• reusability: using information captured for one purpose (e.g.
transactions), and using for others (e.g. customer targeting)

8. Organization Culture
Newer types of ICT such as electronic mail and document
management systems are creating significant changes in the
way that information flows within organizations, and between
them and their customers and suppliers.
It can hasten the development of more open and innovative
cultures.
The use of information systems can also impact a firm's
relationship with suppliers or customers. The ability to gain
information from others up or down a process, or distribution
channels, makes having control over that process or entity less
of an issue.
The ease in communication across the organizational
boundaries may lead to an increase in outsourcing some of the
services as a way of reducing the workforce.

9. Organization Structures
For many years it has been argued that ICT will enable larger
spans of control and the flattening of organizations. This has at
last happened, but due as much to initiatives like BPR
(Business Process Reengineering) and the drive to cut costs.
ICT enables a greater variety of structures. In particular it
enables more flexible and fluid structures - networked
structures, dispersed team and teams that come and go as
needs change (as in the virtual corporation).
Computer networks allow people to communicate quickly, share
ideas, and transfer information without regard to physical
locations, or to a reasonable extent, even without regard to the
temporal dimension. Therefore, a supervisor will be able to
monitor the activities of a larger number of subordinates without
requiring them to report directly to him/her.

10. Organization Structures
The efficiency gained from technology and associated
information systems will generally serve to reduce the number
of people in an organization.
Corporate staffs could disappear, and that after implementing
ICT programs, it is common for an organization to reduce layers
of reporting hierarchy between the Chief Executive Officer and
front-line supervisors.
Thus, a key advantage of ICTs is to be able to simplify
organizational structures. Firms with well-developed business
ICTs lend themselves to a move towards flat structures.
However, caution needs to be exercised. Delayering is not right
for every organization and should not be done indiscriminately.

11. Management Processes
Competitive race on modern markets puts enormous
pressure on companies, forcing them to constantly
improve their business and management performance.
ICT is rapidly entering the era where it supports
unstructured management processes as well as highly
routinized business processes. It provides more effective
ways of accessing information from multiple sources,
including use of external information on databases and the
Internet.
Management Processes are now tied to those processes
concerned with the future development and sustainability
of the organisation in the information era.

12. Management Processes
To support the process, a new generation of computer
based tools and techniques are now available.
These are creating opportunities for creative
reengineering of management processes.

13. Work / Tasks
The tasks that employees perform within an organization are
being drastically affected by the increased mechanization and
application of technology as a part of the production process.
In many settings, tasks previously performed directly by human
operators are being automated, changing the human's task to
one of supervisory control.
Now the expectations of an average employee in such an
environment has to change, because they are no longer
performing repetitive tasks, but rather must be able to recognize
and react to problem situations.

14. Work / Tasks
For employees, becoming effective not only requires
traditional skills of organizing, thinking, writing etc., but
knowing how best to use the power of ICTs for
researching sources, accessing information,
connecting to experts, communicating ideas and
results, and packaging the knowledge (asset) for
reuse.
One aspect of this is the need for hybrid managers -
people who are competent at both their discipline and
ICTs.

15. The Workplace
The way in which ICT diminishes the effect of distance means
that it creates a variety of options for reorganizing the
workplace.
At a basic level, it can provide more flexibility in the office,
allowing desk sharing and a degree of location independence
within a building and wireless PCs becoming more firmly
established.
At another level it permits the dispersion of work teams, thus
saving costs of relocation and travel. It has also created the
mobile professional and also allows people to work effectively
from home (Telework).

16. The Workplace
Telework – The term used for an arrangement where
professionals work from home or outside the traditional office or
workplace, using a computer that is electronically linked to
one’s place of employment; It is also referred to as
telecommuting.
This concept is based on the idea of employees being able to
work independently as a result of having access to data and
information.
The virtual workplace provides access to data / information
one needs to do his job anytime, anyplace, anywhere. . .
employees do not have to be tied to their offices to do their jobs.

17. The Workplace
The idea of not having a set of office space certainly would be a
change from the typical routine of showing up at the office from
8.00hrs to 17.00hrs and performing your work at your desk.
Such a plan would be dependent on the job to be
accomplished, but it is interesting to think of the supervisory
implications.
Such employees would have the ultimate amount of autonomy
and would have to be managed accordingly. Tasks would have
to be more objective or goal oriented and measures of job
performance could no longer depend on face to face interaction,
but rather would have to be tied strictly on the ability to
complete assigned tasks.

18. Computer Systems
and
Operating Concepts

19. What is a Computer?
When we think of a computer, we generally picture
computer hardware: the monitor, the keyboard, and
the electronic circuitry contained within the rectangular
case.
There is more to a computer than this, however. The
missing element is software–the instructions that tell
the computer how to operate the hardware.
All computers must have these two components to
function: Hardware and Software.
.

20. Hardware
The term hardware refers to the tangible parts of a
computer system, that is, the physical equipment of
the computer. A keyboard, disk drive, and monitor are
examples of computer hardware.
Understanding the various physical components of a
computer system will help you understand how the
system works as a whole.
The user performs the input task (input system) with
a device such as a keyboard, mouse, or digital
scanner. These devices allow the user to enter data
and instructions into the computer.

21. A secondary storage system stores data and instructions
that may also be used in the processing stage. This
system might include devices such as CD-ROMs, hard
disks, external drives, flash disks, and tapes.
The central processing system, which manipulates the
data, is perhaps the most important part of the computer.
This system is the “brain” of the computer in that it enables
the computer to transform unorganized inputs into useful
information. The central processing system includes the
central processing unit (CPU) and the primary memory.

22. The computer’s output system displays the results of the
data manipulation. The output system might include a
monitor, a printer, a projector, or a voice output device
(speakers / headsets).
The presentation for the output is typically in one of four
forms: graphics (e.g., charts and photographs), text (e.g.,
words and numbers), video (e.g., photographic images in
motion), or audio (e.g., music and speech).
A final element of a computer is the communication
system, which passes information from computer to
computer over communication media.

23. The general model of an individual computer consists of an
input system, storage system, process system, and
output system. This is normally referred to as an
Information Processing Cycle.

24. Software
A computer system needs more than the hardware described
above in order to function. The hardware by itself, even when
powered-up, is incapable of producing useful output.
It must be instructed how to direct its operations in order to
transform input into output of value to the user. This is the role
of software; i.e., to provide the detailed instructions that control
the operation of a computer system.
Hardware comprises the tangible side of the computer; while
software is the intangible side of the computer. If the CPU is the
physical brain of the computer, then software is its mind.
Software instructions are programmed in a computer language,
translated into machine language, and executed by the
computer.

25. Between the user and the hardware (specifically, the memory),
generally stand two layers of software: system software and
application software.
System software directly controls the computer’s hardware,
whereas application software is one level away from hardware.
System software manages the computer’s resources, enables
the various components of the computer to communicate, runs
application software, and makes the hardware respond to the
user’s needs.
When the system software operates efficiently, the difficult
operations of controlling the hardware are transparent to the
user.

26. System Software
System software includes four main types:
- The Operating System;
- The Language Translators;
- Network and Communications Software;
- Utility Programs.

27. - The Operating System provides an interface between the
computer hardware and the user or the application software.
- Language Translators convert application programs and
any other software programs into the machine language that
actually controls the computer's operations.
- Network and Communications Software operate the
communications hardware in a computer so that it can
transmit and receive information from other computers.
- Utility Programs perform various specialized tasks such as
housekeeping (cleaning-up) tools, various monitoring tools,
disk defragmentation, program installation and uninstallation,
etc. The user directly controls most utility programs,
although some utility programs can be set to run
automatically. e.g. screen savers.

28. Application Software
Application software enables the user to direct the computer’s
processing system in the tasks of manipulating and
transforming input data into useful output information.
Furthermore, it allows the user to alter the information
generated by the processing system; e.g., how the information
is presented.
This is the type of software with which most users interact. It is
the usual interface between user and computer.
Rarely do users directly manipulate systems software,
especially the operating systems software.

29. Application software can be written for a specific user’s
application (custom software), or it can be mass-produced for
general use (commercial or packaged software).
Generally, custom software is usually more expensive than
commercial software. An accounting package written for a
specific company might cost more in comparison to a
commercial accounting package.
The advantage of custom software is that it is tailored to the
user’s specific needs and can be seamlessly integrated into the
user’s existing software.
Not only is commercial software less costly, it is also available
immediately, and the package can be evaluated before being
purchased.

30. Application software comes in an incredible variety. It is
available for business, personal, educational, communication,
and graphic design purposes—to name the more usual
categories.
There is almost certainly a software package somewhere
available to suit any need. If not, there are programmers ready
to be hired to build it.
Examples of application software which is also most likely to be
useful to accounting and business students are:
word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation, email
and graphics. These six applications are frequently sold
together in a single software package.

31. What is a Computer System?
In general terms, a computer system is a set of machines /
devices (hardware) operating under the control of instructions
(software) stored in its own memory.
These operations and instructions enable the computer to
receive data from a user (input), transform and manipulate the
data according to specified rules (process), produce results
(output).
Additionally, data, instructions, and information are stored
(storage) for future retrieval and use.
Many computers are also capable of another task:
communicating directly with other machines.