Chapter 15 - Managing Global Systems

Some of the major factors that drive the internationalization of business are the growth of inexpensive international communication and transportation.  They have developed a world of cultured world with stable expectations or norms. Political stability and a growing global knowledge base that is widely shared also contribute to the world culture. Global markets, global production, coordination, distribution, and global economies of scale are the general factors that create the conditions. 

The alternative factors for developing global business are multinational, franchiser, domestic exporter and transnational.  Multinationals typically rely on decentralized independence among foreign units with some movement toward development of networks.  Franchisers typically duplicate systems across many countries and use centralized financial controls.  Usually domestic exporters are centralized in domestic headquarters with some decentralized operations permitted.  Transnational firms have to permit considerable decentralization of development and develop networked system configurations.

Global information systems create challenges because political, cultural and language diversity greatly increases the differences in business processes and organizational culture  and encourages growth of disparate local information systems that are hard to implement.  The solution to the problem is to define a small subset of core business processes and concentrate on creating systems to support these processes.  Managers will have to intentionally cooperate widely dispersed foreign units to act in the development and operation of these systems, being cautious to maintain total control.  

Integrating a global system mandates an implementation strategy that considers both technology platforms and business design. The biggest telecommunications and hardware problems are connectivity and systems integration.  Going with either a proprietary architecture or with open systems technology are the choices for integration.  Global networks can be very complicated to operate and build.  A company has a choice of either building their own global network or developing global networks based on the Internet.  Building interfaces to existing systems and finding applications that work with various organizational frameworks, cultural and language are the main issues concerning building interfaces.

Chapter 14 - Managing Projects

Project management activities include assessing the risk, planning the work, acquiring resources required to accomplish the task, estimating, organizing the work, directing execution and analyzing the results.  Project management must also deal with  major variables: scope, cost, quality, time and risk.  Excelling in project management is crucial for ensuring the logistics of managing systems are carried out timely and efficiently.

It is crucial that organizations have an information systems plan that explains how information technology supports the attainment of their business documents and goals all their system applications and IT infrastructure components.  Most large companies have a management structure that ensures that the important systems receive priority.  Some of the methods that can be used to select and evaluate are portfolio analysis, critical success factor and scoring models.

A company can assess the value of information systems projects by calculating its costs and benefits.  Intangible benefits cannot be immediately quantified and tangible benefits are quantifiable.  Any benefit that exceed costs should be analyzed using capital budgeting methods to ensure a project has a good return on invested capital.

The principal risk factors in information systems projects are determined by project size, project structure and experience with technology.  Whenever there is a lack of user participation, lack of management support and poor management of the implementation of the project; the chances of failure are increased. Projects that involve business process re engineering, mergers and acquisitions and enterprise applications have the highest failure rate, because they require the largest amount of organizational change.


Some strategies useful for managing project risk and system implementation are implementation, user support and involvement, control of the implementation process and mechanisms for dealing with the level of risk in each new systems project.  The contingency approach to project management can help control the situation better than most other means of doing so.  The risk level of each project is what determines the appropriate mix of external and internal integration tools, formal planning tools and formal control tools that are applied.

Chapter 13 - Building Information Systems

Building new systems produces organizational change because the act itself is a form of planned organizational change.  There are four kinds of technology enabled change, automation, rationalization of procedures, business process redesign and paradigm shift.  Currently many firms use business process management to redesign work flows in order to create dramatic changes in productivity.  Companies also use business process management to aid in six sigma, total quality management and promotion.

Systems analysis and design, conversion, testing, maintenance and production are all core activities within systems development.  Systems analysis is the study and analysis of existing systems and the identification of requirements for their solutions.  Systems designs shows how technical and organizational components fit together; as well as provide the specification for information system solution.

Structured methodology and object-oriented development models are the two principal methodologies for designing and modeling systems.  Structured methodology consists of the data flow diagram, which is the main tool for structured analysis, and the structure chart which is used for representing structured software design.  Object-oriented development systems display a collection of objects that combine processes and data; and is based on inheritance and class.

There are many alternative methods for building information systems.  The oldest method is the systems life cycle which requires that information systems be developed in stages.  Prototyping is another method and it includes building an experimental system quickly and at a low cost for end-users to evaluate and interact with.  Another method is using a software package, this method is convenient because it reduces the amount of design, programming, installation, testing and maintenance needed to build a system.  End user development is the development of information systems by the end user, they can be created informally and in a short amount of time.  The last alternative method the chapter focused on was outsourcing.  It includes using external vendor to operate or build a companies information system instead of using the companies internal information systems staff.

There are some new, more modern approaches to system building.  Many firms have starting using joint application design (JAD), rapid application design (RAD), reusable software components and agile development.  RAD uses object-oriented software, visual programming, fourth generation tools and prototyping.  Agile development breaks a large project into a set of smaller ones.  Component based software increases the speed of application development by combining objects into suites of software used to create business applications.

Chapter 12 - Enhancing Decision Making

Every organization has different levels (strategic, management, operational) and with those levels are different decision making requirements.  Decisions can be structured, semi-structured and unstructured.  Structured decisions are usually at the operational level and unstructured are usually at the strategic level.  Decision making can be made by individual employees or by teams or groups.  Intelligence, design, choice and implementation are the four levels of decision making.  Despite their intent systems to support decision making don't always have better outcomes because of problems with information quality, management filters an organizational culture.

Classic models of managerial activities stressed the functions of organizing, planing, coordinating, controlling and deciding.  More modern research looks at the behavior of managers has found that the real daily activities of a manager are fragmented, brief in duration and variegated; and that is why many managers tend to avoid making grand game changing decisions.  IT provides new tools for managers to carry out their daily activities.  They are able to plan, forecast, monitor with better accuracy and speed than ever before.  IS is great for helping mangers disseminate information and allocate information but there is still some opportunity around supporting unstructured decisions.

Business intelligence and analytics guarantee accurate, almost real-time information for decision making.  A BI environment consists of information from the business environment, the BI infrastructure, a BA tool set, managerial users and methods and the user interface.  There are six analytic functionalities that BI systems deliver to achieve these ends: pre-defined production reports, parametrized reports, dashboards and scorecards, ad hoc queries and searches, the ability to drill down and the ability to model scenarios and create forecasts.

Business within organizations uses BI for monitoring the performance of their company.  Most of the decisions are somewhat structured and Management information systems are used to support the decision making.  For making unstructured decisions decision support systems are used, which include powerful analytics and modeling tools.  Group decision support systems (GDSS) help employees working together make decisions more efficiently.  GDSS feature special conference room facilities where people can contribute ideas, suggestions and solutions using networked computers and software tools for organizing ideas, making and setting priorities, gathering information and documenting meeting sessions. 

Chapter 11 - Managing Knowledge

Knowledge management is a set of processes to store, create, transfer and apply knowledge in the organization.  A large part of a companies value is dependent on the ability to manage and create knowledge.  There are three different types of knowledge management systems.  They are enterprise wide knowledge management systems, knowledge work systems and intelligent techniques.

The types of systems used for enterprise-wide knowledge systems are used company wide to collect, store, distribute and apply digital content and knowledge.  Enterprise content management systems provide tools for organizing as well as databases and tools for organizing semi-structured knowledge, like email or rich media.  Knowledge network systems give directories and other tools for locating employees.  Enterprise wide knowledge systems usually provide significant information if they are designed well and give employees the ability to share, locate and use knowledge more efficiently.

Knowledge work systems (KWS) back up the creation of new knowledge and integrate it into the organization.  KWS need east access to an external knowledge base, computer hardware that can support software with graphics, document management, analysis, communications and a user friendly interface.  Computer-aided design (CAD) systems, virtual reality systems and augmented reality applications create interactive simulations that act and look just like the real world.

There are many important business advantages to using intelligent techniques for knowledge management.  Artificial intelligence is just as it sounds, so it lacks the breadth, flexibility, and general human intelligence; but it can be used to extend organizational knowledge, codify and capture.  The expert systems capture tacit information from a limited domain of human expertise and express knowledge in the form of rules.  Expert systems are best for problems of classification or diagnosis.  Case-based reasoning models organizational knowledge that can be consistently updated and refined.  Fuzzy logic is a software technology that expresses knowledge in the form of rules that use approximate or subjective values.  Neural networks consist of hardware and software that try to mimic the thought processes of the actual human brain.  They are great for their ability to learn without programming and recognize patterns that can't be easily described by humans.  Thy are currently used in science, business and medicine to discern complicated patterns.  Genetic algorithms create solutions using genetically based processed like fitness, mutation and crossover.  Thy are typically used for process optimization, product design and monitoring industrial systems.  Intelligent agents are software programs with built in or learned knowledge bases that carry out repetitive, specific and predictable tasks for users, business processes and software applications.  Intelligent agents can be used to navigate through data to find important, useful information for the user.

Chapter 10 - E-Commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods

Chapter 10 starts by discussing some of the features that are unique to e-commerce, digital markets and digital goods.  E-Commerce includes digitally enabled commercial transactions between companies and people.  Ubiquity, global reach, universal technology standards, richness, information density and interactivity are all unique e-commerce features.  Digital markets tend to be more transparent and they have reduced information asymmetry, transaction and search costs as well as the ability to change prices based on market conditions.  Music, software, videos and books are all digital goods and can all be delivered over a digital network.  Digital products are great because once the original has been created the price of delivering the product is typically lower.

E-tailers, market creators, transaction brokers, content providers, community and service providers and portals are all e-commerce business models.  The main e-commerce revenue models are sales, advertising, free-freemium, subscription, affiliate and transaction fee.

E-commerce has transformed marketing by identifying marketers new ways of communication with millions of customers and at a low cost.  Companies use crowd sourcing to use the "wisdom of crowds" and improve product offerings and grow customer value.  Behavioral targeting techniques are also used to increase the effectiveness of rich media, banner and video ads.

Business to business transactions have also been affected by e-commerce.  It is used to enable companies to locate suppliers, place orders, solicit bids and track orders electronically.  Net marketplaces provide individual, digital marketplace for sellers and buyers.  Even more private industrial networks link a company with its suppliers and other strategic business partners and develop extremely efficient and responsive supply chains.

For location based applications like, finding local hotels and restaurants m-commerce is best suited.  Millions of people use mobile phones and other hand held devices to pay bills, banking, securities, music and games.  M-commerce does require wireless portals and digital payment systems.

Anytime you build an e-commerce website you must ensure that you have a clear understanding of the business objectives that must be achieved and the technology necessary to hit those goals.  E-commerce sites can be hosted locally or outsourced to external service providers.

Chapter 9 - Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy: Enterprise Applications

Enterprise systems help businesses achieve operation excellence by collecting data and feeding into numerous applications that can support nearly all of an organizations internal business activities.  As new information is entered by one process the information is made available immediately to other business processes.  The enterprise systems support organizational centralization by enforcing uniform data standards and business processes throughout the company and a single unified technology platform.  The company-wide data generated by enterprise systems often helps managers evaluate company performance.

In order for supply chain management systems to coordinate planning, production and logistics with suppliers they must automate the flow of information among members of the supply chain so they can use it to make better decisions about how to much purchase and when and where to ship it.  The more accurate the information received the less likelihood of uncertainty and the impact of the bull whip effect.  Supply chain management software includes software for supply chain planning and for supply chain execution.  Internet technology supports the management of global supply chain information.  Better communication between the chain members also gains better customer response and movement toward a demand-driven model.

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems integrate and automate customer facing processes in sales, marketing and customer service which provides an enterprise-wide view of customers.  Many companies use this knowledge to enhance customer interactions and provide them with better service or the ability to provide new products and services.  The biggest customer relationship management software packages provide capabilities for both operational CRM and analytical CRM.  They typically include modules for managing relationships with selling partners and for employee relationship management.

As enterprise applications are difficult to implement there are challenges that arise.  Enterprise applications require extensive organizational change, big software investments and careful assessment of exactly how these systems will enhance organizational performance.  In order for the systems to enhance operations they must be integrated into systems that are not flawed, that and ensuring that all employees understand how to use systems and how they should work help enhance a successful roll out.  Training for all employees using the technology is necessary as well.

Service platforms integrate data and processes from the various enterprise applications and from legacy applications to create new and composite business processes.  The new services are driven through enterprise portals which can integrate applications so that information appears to come from a single source.  Mobile, cloud and open source versions of this are products that are becoming more and more readily available.

Chapter 8 - Securing Information Systems

Because the Internet is designed to be an open system and makes internal corporate systems more vulnerable to actions from outsiders; digital data is even more vulnerable to destruction, misuse, error, fraud and hardware or software failures.  Computer hackers can unleash denial of service (DoS) or penetrate corporate networks causing serious system disruption.  Wi-Fi networks can also be easily hacked by intruders.  Computer viruses and worms can also disarm networks and websites.  The spread out nature of cloud computing makes it difficult to track unauthorized activity or to apply controls from afar.  

The business value of security and control is huge.  Lack of good security and control can cause major problems down the line for any business or organization; and can lead to loss of sales and productivity.  Information assets, such as confidential employee records, trade secrets or business plans lose a lot of their value if they are revealed to company outsiders.  New laws such as HIPPA, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act have made it mandatory for a company to have very strict electronics management policies.

In order for a company to have solid security and control it is necessary to establish a good set of both general and application controls for their IS.  Risk assessment evaluates information assets, identifies control points and control weaknesses and determines the most cost effective set of controls.  Organizations also have to develop a coherent corporate security policy and plans for continuing business operations in the event of a disaster or a major disruption to daily business operations.  The security policy should include policies for acceptable use and identity management; as well a comprehensive, systematic MIS auditing tool.

The most important tools for technologies regarding safeguarding information resources are firewalls, which prevent unauthorized users from accessing private networks.  Also intrusion detection systems monitor private networks from suspicious network traffic.  Tokens, passwords, biometric identification and smarts cards are all used to authenticate systems users.  Antivirus software is used to check computer systems for infections by viruses and worms and usually eliminate malicious software.  Encryption and digital certificates are also both often used to protect information resources.

Chapter 7 - Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless Technology

The principle components of telecommunications networks include computers, network interfaces, a connection medium, network operating system software and either a hub or switch.  The networking infrastructure for a large organization includes the traditional telephony system, mobile cellular communication, wireless local area networks, video-conferencing systems, a corporate website, intranets, extranets and a wide array of local and area wide networks, including the Internet.The rise of client/server computing, the use of packet switching and the adoption of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) have all shaped contemporary networks.

The main telecommunications transmission media are twisted copper wire, coaxial cooper cable, fiber optic cable and wireless transmission.  Local area networks (LAN) connect PC's and other digital devices together within a 500 meter radius and are used today for many corporate computing tasks.  Network components may be connected together using a star, bus or ring topology.  Wide area networks (WANs) span broad geographical distances ranging from several miles to continents.  Digital subscriber lines (DSL) technologies, cable Internet connections and T1 lines are often used for high-capacity Internet connections.

The Internet is a world wide network of networks that used the client/server model of computing and the TCP-IP reference model.  Every computer that uses the Internet has a unique number associated with it (IP address).  Main Internet services include email, newgroups, chatting, instant messaging, Telnet, FTP and the Web.  Web pages are based on Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and can display text, graphics, video an audio.  Companies have also started to realize economies by using VoIP technology for voice transmission and by using virtual private networks (VPNs) as low cost alternatives to WANs.

The principal technologies and standards for wireless networking, communication and Internet access are high speed, high bandwidth and digital packet switched transmission.  Broadband 3G networks are capable of transmitting data at speeds ranging from 144 Kbps to more than 2 Mbps.  4G networks capable of transmission speeds that could reach 1 Gbps are also starting to be released.  Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) are both common cellular standards.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless sensor networks are valuable for business because they provide powerful technology for tracking movement of goods by using tiny tags with embedded data about an item and its location.  RFID readers read the radio signals transmitted bt these tags and pass the data over a network to a computer for processing.  Wireless sensor network (WSNs) are networks of interconnected wireless sensing and transmitting devices that are embedded into the physical environment to provide measurements of many points over various large spaces.

Chapter 6 - Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management

Chapter 6 identified some of the problems associated with managing data resources in a traditional file environment and how are they solved by a database management system.  The typical file management techniques make it hard for firms to keep track of the pieces of data they use in a systematic way and to organize the data so that it can be easily accessed.  In order to develop their own files independently different functional areas and groups were created.  As time progressed the traditional file management environment created problems like data redundancy and inconsistency, program data dependence, poor security, inflexibility and lack of data sharing and availability.  Database management system (DBMS) helps solve these problems with software that permits centralization of data and data management so that businesses have a single consistent source for all their needs.

Some of the major capabilities of DBMS include data definition, data dictionary and a data manipulation language.  The data definition capability specifies the structure and content of the database.  The data dictionary is an automated or manual file that stores information about the data in the database, including names, definitions, formats and descriptions of data elements.  The manipulation language such as SQL, is a specialized language for accessing and manipulating data in the database.  The relational database is the primary method for organizing and maintaining data today in informational systems because it is so flexible and easily accessible.  

There are some important database design principles.  Designs should include both a logical and physical design.  The logical design should model the database from a business perspective.  The model should reflect an organizations main business processes and decision making requirements.  A well designed relational database will not include many-to-many relationships, and all attributes for a specific entity will only apply to that entity.  It should try to enforce the referential integrity rules to ensure that relationships between coupled tables will remain consistent.

Some principle tools and technologies for accessing information from databases to improve business performance and decision making are data warehouses. They consolidate current and historical data from many different operational systems in a central database designed for reporting and analysis.  Data warehouses support multidimensional data analysis, also known as online analytical processing (OLAP).   OLAP represents relationships among data as a multidimensional structure, which can be visualized as cubes of data and cubes of data within data, which enables more sophisticated data analysis.

When developing a database environment it is crucial to require policies for managing organizational data as well as a good data model and database technology.  A formal information policy should govern maintenance, distribution and use of information in the organization.  In larger companies a formal data administration function is responsible for the information policy.  Inaccurate, incomplete and inconsistent data creates a serious operational and financial problem.  Companies must take whatever steps necessary to ensure they have a high level of data quality.

Chapter 5 - IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies

In order to understand Chapter 5 I must first define IT infrastructure and it's components.  IT infrastructure is the shared technology resources that provide the platform for the firms specific information system applications.  IT infrastructure includes hardware, software and services that are shared across the entire organization.  Major IT infrastructure components are computer hardware platforms, operating system platforms, enterprise software platforms, networking and telecommunications platforms, database management software, Internet platforms and consulting services and systems integrators.

The chapter also details the stages and technology drivers of the IT infrastructure evolution.  The five stages of IT infrastructure evolution are the mainframe era, the personal computing era, the client/server era, the enterprise computing era and the cloud and mobile computing era.  Moore's Law deals with the growth in processing power and decrease in the  cost of computer technology.  As we learned in Chapter 4 the power of micro-processors doubles every 18 months and the price of computing falls in half.  The Law of Mass Digital storage deals with the exponential decline in the cost of storing data, stating that the number of kilobytes of data can be stored on magnetic media for $1 doubles every 15 months.  Metcalfe's Law helps show that a networks value to participants grows as the network takes on more members.

Some of the current trends in the computer hardware platform are computing on a mobile digital platform, grid computing, virtualization and cloud computing.  Grid computing involves connecting geographically remote computers into a single network to create computational grid that combines the computing power of all computers on the network. Virtualization organizes computing resources so that their use is not restricted by physical configuration or geographic location.  In cloud computing organizations and individual users obtain  computing power and software as services over a network, including the Internet, rather than purchasing and installing the hardware and software on their own computer.

Some of the current trends in software platforms include open source software that is produced and maintained by global community of programmers and can usually be downloaded for free.  Linux is a powerful open source OS that can run on multiple hardware platforms and is used widely to run Web servers.  Java is an OS and hardware-independent programming language that is the leading interactive programming environment for the Web.  Now often times corporations are purchasing their software from outside sources including software packages, by outsourcing customer application development software services (SaaS).  Mash ups combine two different software services to create new software applications and services.

Managing IT infrastructure in the modern world does come with some inherent challenges.  Those challenges include dealing with the platform and infrastructure change, infrastructure management and governance and making wise infrastructure investments.  The solution guidelines include using a competitive forces model to determine how much to spend on the IT infrastructure and where to take strategic infrastructure investments, and establishing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of information technology assets.  The TCO of owning technology resources usually includes not only the cost of the original hardware and software, but also the costs for upgrades, maintenance, technical support and training.

Chapter 4 - Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems

Chapter 4 started by identifying five moral dimensions of the Information Age.

The 5 Moral Dimensions of the Information Age:

1.  Information rights and obligations - what information rights do individuals and organizations possess with respect to themselves?  What can they protect?

2.  Property rights and obligations - how will traditional intellectual property rights be protected in a digital society in which tracing and accounting for ownership are difficult and ignoring such property rights is so easy?

3.  Accountability and control - Who can and will be held accountable and liable for the harm done to individual and collective information and property rights?

4.  System quality - What standards of data and system quality should we demand to protect individual rights and the safety of society?

5.  Quality of life - What values should be preserved in an information and knowledge based society?

There are some key technology trends that raise ethical issues.  Computing power doubles every 18 months, this has made it possible for companies to use IS for their core production processes.  Now most corporations are dependent on systems; which makes us even more vulnerable to system errors and poor data quality.  Data storage costs are quickly declining so organizations can easily maintain detailed databases on individuals.  That opens more opportunities for profiling, which is when different computers are used to compile different pieces of information on individuals and create electronic dossiers to store the information.  Within the trend of profiling non-obvious relationship awareness (NORA) technology has given the public even more ways to profile individuals.  When data flows over the Internet it can be viewed and monitored at any point.  Not all websites have strong enough privacy protection policies and cookies also make it easy for private information to become public information.  Traditional copyright laws are outdated and insufficient for protecting against software piracy.

Chapter 4 teaches us that there must be ethical choices within IS.  Ethical choices are decisions made by individuals who are responsible for the consequences of their actions.  Responsibility is a main element of ethical action - it means that you accept the potential costs, duties and obligations for the decisions you make.  Accountability is a feature of systems and social institutions.  It means that mechanisms are in place to determine who took responsible action and who is responsible.  Liability extends the concept of responsibility further to the area of laws.    These three fairly basic concepts help form the basis of ethical analysis of IS and those who manage them.

There are six ethical principles for judging conduct and they include the Golden Rule, Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative, Descartes' rules of change, the Utilitarian Principle, the Risk Aversion Principle and the ethical "no free lunch rule".  In addition to ethical analysis these principles should be used to guide behavior when managing IS.

Information systems have had an impact on our everyday life.  Advancing technology and computer systems have made some invaluable, positive changes to our lives but they've also made some negative changes.  Computer errors can cause harm to a person's professional and personal life and poor data quality can have a negative impact on the professional environment.  Positions can be eliminated when employees are replaced by computers or tasks become unnecessary due to advancements made to technology.  Widespread usage of computers also increases the likelihood of computer crimes and computer abuse.

Chapter 3 - Information Systems, Organizations and Strategy

1.  The features of organizations that managers need to know in order to build and use information systems successfully and the impact it has on organizations.

As every modern organization differs in goals, groups served, social roles, leadership styles, incentives, types of tasks performed and type of structure.  Knowing those differences helps explain the difference in way in which organizations use information systems.  As an organization and an information system become intertwined they inherently influence each other.  Ultimately the information system must serve the organization.

2.  Porter's Competitive Forces Model

In Porter's competitive forces model the strategic position of the firm and it's strategies are determined by competition with it traditional direct competitors, but they are also greatly affected by new market entrants, substitute products and services, suppliers and customers and customers.  

3.  Value Chain and Web Models

The value chain model highlights specific activities in the business where competitive strategies and information systems will have the greatest impact.  The model views the firm as a series of primary and support activities that add value to a firm's products or services.  A company's value chain can be linked to the value chain of its suppliers, distributors, and customers.  A value chain consists of information systems that enhance competitiveness by promoting the use of standards and industry wide consortia.

4.  Information systems help businesses use synergies, core competencies and network based strategies to achieve competitive advantage.

As firms consist of multiple business units, information systems help achieve additional efficiencies or enhance services by tying together the operations of disparate business units.  Because IS promote the sharing of knowledge across business units they help corporations leverage their core competencies.  Virtual based company strategy uses networks to link to other firms so that a company can use the capabilities of other companies to build market and distribute products and services.

5.  Challenges posed by strategic information systems.

The implementation of strategic information systems typically requires extensive organizational change and a transition from one societechnical level to another.  The strategies are called strategic transitions and are commonly difficult and hard to execute.  Not all strategic systems are profitable and are often not worth the difficulty associated with implementing them. 

 

Chapter 2 - Global E-business and Collaboration

1.  Business processes and how they relate to information systems.

A business process is a logically related set of activities that defines how specific business tasks are performed, and it represents a unique way in which an organization coordinates work, information and knowledge.  It is crucial that managers pay attention to business processes because it determines how business should be carried out.  Every major business function has a process that belongs to it and many of these processes are cross functional.

2.  Systems serve the different management groups in a business.

Transaction processing systems are referred to as TPS and they help operational management process payroll and orders as well as track the daily routines necessary to conduct business.  Management information systems (MIS) produce reports to help serve middle management functions by condensing TPS.  Decision support systems (DSS) support the unique and ever-changing decision making needs of businesses.  Each of these systems provides business intelligence that helps managers and enterprise employees make informed decisions.

3. Systems that link the enterprise improve organizational performance.

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems coordinate the business processes surrounding a firm's customers.  The knowledge management systems enable firms to enhance the creation, sharing and distribution of knowledge.

4.  Systems for collaboration and teamwork are important.

Collaboration and teamwork has become an integral part of the business world because of globalization, the decentralization of decision making and growth in jobs where job interaction is the primary value adding activity.  Collaboration tools include email, instant messaging, wikis, videoconferencing systems, virtual worlds, social networking, cell phones and internet collaboration platforms like Google Apps/Sites, Microsoft SharePoint and Lotus Notes.

5.  The role information systems play in business.

Typically the information systems department is business unit that is responsible for information technology services.  It maintains the hardware, software, data storage and networks that comprise a company's IT infrastructure.  The information systems department includes specialists, such as programmers, system's analysts, project leaders and information systems managers.