Information Systems 2nd edition A Business Approach

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Information Systems 2nd edition A Business
Approach

• Setting the Scene

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Peter Druckers Three Waves

• the application of knowledge to industrial tools
  and technologies industrial revolution
• the application of knowledge to human endeavour
  scientific management
• concerns the application of knowledge to
  knowledge knowledge management
• Where are we now?

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Data, Information and Knowledge

• Data (Singular form datum) are the rawmaterials
  of which Information Systemsare built.
• Information is processed or value-added data
• Knowledge is understanding the meaning of
  information knowledge is personal and
  subjective
• Can you give an example which links all three?

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Information as a Strategic Resource

• The more up to date and accurate your information
  is the greater the business advantage you
  possess.
• There are descriptions of cataloguing and
  retrieval systems dating from over two thousand
  years ago. All that has changed has been the
  technology.
• How would you put a dollar value on a customer
  list? Or a financial spreadsheet?

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What is a System?

• A collection of parts that work together to
  achieve some purpose. Of course, the parts
  could also be systems in their own right!
• Systems can be man-made or natural
• Deciding where the boundaries of a system liecan
  be very difficult.
• Identify some systems that you know about what
  do they have in common?

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What is an Information System?

• a system whose purpose is the efficient storage,
  manipulation, processing and retrieval of
  information
• What are the components of an information system?
• Many people regard Information Systems as social
  systems is this justifiable?

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History of Information Systems

• Information Systems have existed for centuries
  the term itself began to be used in the late
  1950s as computers were applied to information
  processing.
• The industrial revolution extended our physical
  capabilities and the information revolution
  extended our mental capabilities
• Early computers required detailed knowledge of
  the underlying technology has this influenced
  the way in which Information Systems has
  developed as a subject area?

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Is Information Systems aCoherent Discipline?

• A discipline has a paradigm (system of working)
  and an infrastructure (journals, committees, etc.
  orthodoxy emerges with maturity.
• 1972, John Dearden of the Harvard Business School
  wrote Management Information Systems is
  embedded in a mishmash of fuzzy thinking and
  incomprehensible jargon
• How far have we come since then?

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Other Perceptions of Information Systems

• A philosophy of information technology
• The application of technology for competitive
  advantage in business
• An enabling technology for business
• An integrating framework for business
• A competitive edge!
• How can we use information systems/technology to
  compete?

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Competitive Information Systems

• We can use technology to create barriers to
  competition.
• We can use technology to lower the costs of
  market entry.
• We can shorten timelines, speed cashflow, cut out
  intermediaries, build umbilical cords.
• We can be better informed than our competitors.
• Can you think of real business examples of these
  competitive strategies?

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Important Trends

• We have seen technology change production, then
  change business processes and organisations now
  even social structures and interactions are being
  changed.
• John Naisbit wrote The Bigger the World Economy,
  the More Powerful Its Smallest Players
  Small/Medium Enterprises (SMEs) now account for
  the bulk of GDP in the developed nations.
• What advantages do SMEs have in the new economy?

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More Trends

• Technologies are converging (or colliding), e.g.
  mobile phones which can access the Internet and
  send/receive fax and e-mail computers which
  support voice and video communication ... using
  the Internet for long-distance phone and fax.
• Technology is getting cheaper and easier to use.
• TV of advertising products and services is hard
  if there are too many channels Why is this?
  Does the World Wide Web make advertising easier
  or harder?

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Where are the New Business Opportunities?

• Older businesses, primary producers, steelworks,
  etc. will still exist but thereis a greater
  emphasis on information and knowledge-based
  companies.
• Synthesis (putting things together) and taking a
  percentage (really becoming a special kind of
  intermediary) is an increasingly common business
  approach.
• Can you think of a low set-up-cost business that
  could operate like this?

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Which Businesses are Twilight Businesses?

• Success in one area of business usually comes at
  the cost of another.
• Businesses must adapt or die Hoover moved into
  Vacuum cleaners from Horse Carriage accessories
  in the early 1900s.
• Can you identify any businesses that are under
  threat?

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Relationship of IS to Other Disciplines

• Accounting
• Finance
• Management
• Hospitality
• Marketing
• Computer Science
• Others?

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Are there Jobs in Information Systems?

• Many people (wrongly) associate the dot-com
  collapse with information systems.
• 85 of E-commerce is business to business this
  and mainstream corporate Information Systems
  remain vibrant.
• Like any other business sector, things in IS
  change. Some technologies are in the ascendancy
  while others are in decline. New technologies
  emerge regularly.
• All this does is to underline the importance of
  lifelong learning.

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Summary

• Information Systems is an enabling technology
  that can change the basis of tactical and
  strategic competition in business.
• Information Systems is a people business and
  successful implementations must take human
  factors into consideration.
• Information Systems is part of business culture.
• Irrespective of the business area in which you
  choose to work, you will be working with
  information systems.

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