Introduction to Management Information Systems

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Introduction to Management Information Systems

• Jason Chen, Ph.D.
• Professor of MIS
• School of Business
• Gonzaga University
• Spokane, WA 99258
• chen_at_jepson.gonzaga.edu

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Why Information Systems?(Why take IS?)

• In the tumultuous last years of the 20th
  century, when change was the only certainty and,
  one after another, fierce new competitors rose up
  from every corner of the globe to vie for
  dominance of the world marketplace, enterprise
  organizations came to understand that their only
  hope for survival lay with Information
  Technology.
• And they called out to their IT managers to
  instruct them in the ways of IT and to fashion IT
  into a brave, finely-honed competitive advantage
  with which to vanquish their enemies ...

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IS vs. IT
?
IS IT
Why?
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Is Computer Age Over ?
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The Information Age vs. the Computer Age
The Computer Age Time-sharing
Computer 1960s
End of the computer age
Beginning of the information age
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Computer Age vs. Information Age

• Computer age refers to the love affair with
  hardware (and its speed of processing data)
• Information age refers to the trend toward
  treating information as a corporate resource that
  supplies executives with timely, accurate
  information for more effective decision making.

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Computers Impact
The good news
Computers allow us to work 100 faster.
The bad news
They generate 300 more work.
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What is Information ?

• DATA

INFORMATION
Information is refined data.
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SYSTEM
INPUT
OUTPUT
PROCESS
FEEDBACK
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Dr. Chen, Information Age
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System Concepts
Environment
Control by Management
Feedback Signals
Feedback Signals
Control Signals
Control Signals
Input of Raw Materials
Output of Finished Products
Manufacturing Process
System Boundary
Other Systems
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FUNCTIONS OF AN INFORMATION SYSTEM (General
Systems Model)
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Information and our Life

• Information (and energy) are at the core of
  everything around us.
• Our entire existence is a process of gathering,
  analyzing, understanding, and acting on the
  information.

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Information and Business

• Every business is a service business
• information confers competitive advantage
• Mass customization
• needs more information for custom-fit
• Information as product
• information broker, e.g., clothing database,
  purchasing habits etc.

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100 Years ago...

• Industrial Revolution changed the World

Today...

• Information
• Revolution!

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100 Years ago...

• Industrial Revolution changed the World

Today...

• Information
• Revolution!

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Industry Evolution (mid 1770s)
Rail Road (1829, change concept of distance)
Impact on Economy, Politics, Social change
Internet (1990, ??? Distance)
Information Evolution (late 1990s)
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INFORMATION and PROCESS

• Information is frequently said to be the glue
  that holds an organization together.

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More Information ?

• More information is not profitable unless it is
  relevant information.
• Executives will need better information in the
  future if their companies are to be competitive.

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Information

• BAD information is WORSE than ...

NO information.
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Attributes of Information Quality

• We realize that a firm needs better information
  to survive and prosper. Therefore, high quality
  information products have to be provided to
  management.

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Attributes of Information Quality
Timeliness Currency Frequency Time Period
Time Dimension
Accuracy Relevance Completeness Conciseness Scope
performance
Clarity Detail Order Presentation Media
Form Dimension
Content Dimension
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INFORMATION SYSTEMS (MIS/IS)
ORGANIZATIONS
TECHNOLOGY
MANAGEMENT
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Dr. Chen, The Challenge of the Information
Systems Technology
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What is Information Systems?

• Information Systems (IS) are more than just
  computer hardware and software.
• It is not just developing business applications
  programs
• Information Systems include
• Information Technology
• Management
• Organization
• Ultimately, IS are used as strategic tool to
  improve an organizations competitive advantage.

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What is Technology?
If it's green, it's biology,
if it stinks, its chemistry,
if it has numbers its math,
if it doesn't work,
its technology
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How you can apply MIS ...

• To improve the information content of the data,
• to present the valuable information in a
  user-friendly, intuitive, and easy to understand
  way, and
• to empower knowledge workers of today and
  tomorrow.

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Objectives of the MIS

• Deliver the right information
• to the right people,
• at the right time,
• with the right form.
• Ultimately, MIS should improve the workers
  productivity.

• who has what information about whom and when,
  where, and how will all be decided in the process
  of building an information system.

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Information Management vs. Knowledge Management

• Information management can be described as
  delivering the right information to the right
  people at the right time with the right form.
• Knowledge management can be illustrated as
  getting the right people to have the right
  conversation at the right time.

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The Twenty-first Century will ...

• The twenty-first century will witness only two
  kinds of companies
• those that exploit Information Technology (IT)
• those that are out of business

Source Quality Information and Knowledge, Huang
et. al., Prentice Hall
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What is the class about ?

• Therefore, this class is about the need,
• the value, and
• the means
• of acquiring, creating, and using the
  information in the information age.

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CONCLUSION

• Information System (IS) should be an
  organizational and management solution, based on
  information technology (IT), to a challenge posed
  by the environment.

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Roles of Information Systems
Automates (Efficiency)
Innovates/ Transforms
Informates (???)
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What is Web 2.0?

• "Web 2.0" refers to the second generation of web
  development and web design.
• It is characterized as facilitating
  communication, information sharing,
  interoperability, user-centered design and
  collaboration on the World Wide Web. It has led
  to the development and evolution of web-based
  communities, hosted services, and web
  applications.
• Examples include social-networking sites,
  video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups and
  folksonomies.
• Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the
  computer industry caused by the move to the
  Internet as a platform, and an attempt to
  understand the rules for success on that new
  platform.

Source http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
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INFORMATION SYSTEM
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATION
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Dr. Chen, Information Age
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THE INFORMATION SYSTEMS REVOLUTION
TRANSFORMING BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
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