Liu, Lu ?? Professor Department of Information Systems School of Economics

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Liu, Lu ??ProfessorDepartment of
Information SystemsSchool of Economics
Management BeiHang University

• March, 2006
• Email liulu_at_buaa.edu.cn

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Information SystemsPrinciples and Approaches
An Introduction to Information Systems
Lecture 1
Agenda For Today

• A walk through the course outline
• An introduction to Information Systems
• Why Information Systems?
• What is IS?
• Approaches to IS
• The Challenges of IS

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Main Contents of This Course

• 1. Concept and role of Information systems
  (Lec.1, Lec.2)
• 2. Application of Information System in
  Organizations (Lec.3, Lec.4, Lec.5, Lec.6)
• 3. Approaches to Information systems ( Lec.7,
  Lec.8)
• 4. Managing Information systems (Lec.9)

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Teaching and Learning Methods

• Seminar
• Individual assignment
• Choose a topic
• Searching, reading and writing
• Preparing PPT
• Presentation and Discussion

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Grading

• Component
• Presentation 30
• Writing Report 20
• Final Exam 50

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1.1 Why IS?

• 1. Emergence of the global economy
• Competition in world markets
• Management control in a global marketplace
• Global work groups
• Global delivery systems
• The success of firms depends on their ability to
  operate globally

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Global Economy

• Globally Means there is no nations boundary
• Trading, Production,Finance, Consuming
• Product,Service, Capital, Information
• International company, multi-national company,
  cross-national company

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Role of Information Systems

• Companys ability to operate globally is based on
  the utilization of IS
• New Product Development capability
• Capture the requirement of customer
• Provide personalized products or service
• Communication and coordination capability
• Operation, Management and control power

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2. Transformation of Industrial Economy

• Knowledge- information-based economies
• What is K-economy?
• How to judge it?
• Where we are?
• How to transform or go into K-economy?

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Knowledge- Information-intense Products or
Services

• Products that require a great deal of learning
  and knowledge to produce
• Examples Computer software, .
• Service that require a great deal of learning and
  knowledge to provide
• Examples Consulting firms, .

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Knowledge Information-intense Organizations

• They are devoted entirely to production,
  processing and distribution of information
• Examples
• Sina.com
• Kingdee company

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3.Transformation of the Business Enterprise

• Flattening
• Decentralization
• Flexibility
• Location independent
• Low transaction coordination costs
• Empowerment
• Collaborative work teamwork

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Classifications of Organization

• Profit-oriented vs. Non-profit
• Labor intensive vs. Knowledge intensive
• Traditional vs. E-enterprise
• Real vs. Virtual enterprise

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1.2 What is an IS?

• Basic concepts
• Data
• Information
• System
• Information System
• In the view of technology
• Business perspective

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What Is Information?

• Data streams of raw facts
• Informationdata that have been shaped into a
  form that is meaningful

Valuable Information Accurate,
Complete Reliable, Relevant Timely,
Accessible Secure
Transformation process(applying knowledge by
selecting, organizing, and manipulating data)
Data
Information
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What Is a System?
Environment
Interactions
Process
Outputs
Inputs
Process
Process
Feedback
Components (subsystems)
System Boundary
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What Is an Information System?
Inputs
Outputs
Processing
Producing useful information, usually in the
forms of documents
Gathering and capturing data
Converting or transforming data into useful
outputs
Feedback
Output that is used to alter inputs or processes
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Information System in the View of Technology

• A set of interrelated components
• Collect (or retrieve), process, store and
  distribute information
• To support decision making,coordination, control
  analysis and visualization in an organization.

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Functions of an Information System
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Information Systems a Business Respective

• An organizational and management solution, based
  on information technology, to a challenge posed
  by the environment.
• Help manager analyze problems, create new
  products or services.
• Its success depends on organization, management
  and technology.

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Organization

• Key elements of organization
• People managers, workers
• Structure
• Operating proceduresSOPs
• Politics
• Culture

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Relationship Between Organization and IT
MEDIATING FACTORS Environment
Culture Structure
Standard Operating Procedures
Politics
Management Decisions Chance
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IS in the Organization The organization
Senior management Major end
users(divisions)
Information System Department

• Information System Specialists
• CIO
• Managers
• System analysts
• System designers
• System programmers
• Applications programmers
• Database administrator
• Network administrator

• IT Infrastructure
• Hardware
• Software
• Data Storage
• Telecommunication.

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Major Organizational Functions

• Sales and marketing
• Manufacturing
• Finance
• Accounting
• Human resources

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Management

• Managerial functions
• Planning, organizing, coordinating, deciding and
  controlling
• Managers job
• Set strategy and goals
• Allocate resources
• Coordinate the work
• Managers role at different levels

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Technology

• IT Infrastructure
• Computer hardware
• Computer software
• Storage technology
• Communications technology

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Information Systems
ORGANIZATIONS
TECHNOLOGY
MANAGEMENT
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1.3 Approaches to information systems
TECHNICAL APPROACHES
COMPUTER SCIENCE
OPERATIONS RESEARCH
MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
BEHAVIORAL APPROACHES
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Socio-technical Perspective

• Technology Organization Mutually Adjust To One
  Another Until Fit Is Satisfactory

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New Role of IS in Organizations

• IS affect how managers decide, plan, and manage
  their employees, and increasingly shape what
  products or service are produced, where, when and
  how.
• What a business would like to do often depends on
  what its systems will be able to do.

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System Interdependence
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The Widening Scope of IS
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Digital Firm and the Networked Enterprise

• Redesign the organization with IS
• Flattening organizations
• Separating work from location
• Reorganizing work-flows
• Increasing flexibility of organization
• The changing management process
• Redefining organizational boundaries

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Digital Firm E-commerce and E-business

• Electronic Market
• Marketplace created by computer and
  communication technology Linking many buyers and
  seller
• Electronic Commerce
• Process of buying and selling goods and services
  electronically using Internet, networks and other
  digital technologies
• Electronic Business
• Use of Internet and digital technology for
  organizational communication and the management
  of the firm

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1.4 Learning to use IS The challenge and
opportunities

• Key Management Issues
• 1.The strategic business challenge
• How can business use IT to design
  organization that are competitive, effective and
  digitally enabled?

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2. The Globalization Challenge

• How can firms understand the business and system
  requirement of a global economic environment?

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3. The Information Architecture Challenge

• How can organizations develop an information
  architecture that supports their business goals?
• Information architecture of the firm
• Particular form that information technology takes
  in an organization to achieve selected goals

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Information Architecture and Information
Technology Infrastructure
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4. The information systems investment challenge

• How can organizations determine the business
  value of information systems?

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5. The responsibility and control challenge

• How can organizations design systems that people
  can control and understand?

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Summary

• What is an information system?
• Why does organization need IS?
• What are management challenges to building and
  using IS in organizations?

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Application Cases

• Wal-Mart
• Google.com