Chapter 1

INFORMATION SYSTEMS
IS are combinations of hardware, software and
telecommunication networks that people build and use to collect,
create and distribute useful data, typically in organisational settings.

Data People

IS
Telecommunic
ations
Hardware

Software

5 key elements of IS
Why is IS important?
Increasing global competitiveness has forced companies to find
ways to be better and to do things less expensively. The answer
many firms continue to use IS to do things better, faster and
cheaper. The firms are doing more but with fewer people because
of their investments in IS.

The rise of knowledge worker

Knowledge worker: They are typically professionals who are
relatively well educated and who create, modify, and/or
synthesise knowledge as a fundamental part of their jobs. They
are generally paid better than their prior agricultural and
industrial counterpart; they rely on and are empowered by
formal education. They possess valuable real- world skills; they
can continually learning how to do their jobs better; they have
much better career opportunities and far more bargaining
power than others.

With the growth in number of knowledge workers and with their rise
in importance and leadership, a knowledge society had emerged.
Given the importance of education and learning to knowledge
workers and the firms that needed them, education would become
the corner stone for the knowledge society.

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In the new economy there is Digital divide, where those with access
to IT have greater advantages over those without access to IT.

Data
Data is the raw material –recorded, unformatted information such
as words and numbers. Data has no meaning in and itself.

The technology side of IS

Technology is any mechanical and/ or electrical means to
supplement, extend, or replace human, manual operations or
devices.

The term IT refers to machine technology that is controlled by or

uses information.

Technology

CSIT
based
IS

IT use machine technologies as building blocks and then combine

them with computing and networking technologies. The goal of IS is
to provide useful data to users. An eg: of IS is the use of specialized
software on a computer controlled, mechanical machine used to
produce CDs

Careers in IS
The field of IS includes those people in organisations who design
and build system, those who use these systems, and those
responsible for managing these systems. The people who help
develop and manage systems in organisations include system
analysts, system programmers, system operators, network
administrators, database administrators, system designers, system
managers, and chief information officers.

The advent of CIO

The CIO was charged with integrating new technologies into the
organisation’s business strategy. Traditionally the responsibility for
integrating technology and strategy had not officially rested with
any one manager. Responsibility for managing day to day IS

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function had previously rested with a middle level manager, or in
some cases, with a vice president of IS. Ultimate responsibilities of
these activities would now rest with a high level executive, the CIO.
They realised that IS could be of tremendous strategic value to the
organisation. As a result, this new IS executive would work much
like other executives, sitting at strategy table, working right along
side of the CEO, Chief financial officer, chief operating officer, and
other chief executives and key people in the organisation. When
strategic decisions to be made, technology would play a major role,
and the CIO needed to participate in the strategic decision making
process.

What make IS personnel so valuable?????

IS personnel are now well trained, highly skilled, valuable
professionals who garner high wages and prestige, and who play a
pivotal role in helping firms be successful. In a nutshell, good IS
personnel possess valuable, integrated knowledge and skills in 3
areas- technical, business and systems.
Technical competency: this includes knowledge and skills in
hardware, software, networking, and security. In a sense “nuts and
bolts’’ of IS. IS professional must know just enough about these
areas to understand how they work and how they can and should be
applied.

Business competency: this area is one that sets of IS professional

apart from others who have only technical knowledge and skills, and
in an era of increased outsourcing it may well save a person’s job. It
is absolutely vital for IS professionals to understand the technical
areas AND the nature of the business as well.
Systems competency: those who understand how to build and
integrate systems and how to solve problems will ultimately
manage large, complex system projects, as well as mange those in
the firm who have technical knowledge and skills.

The organisational side of IS

People use IS to help their org. to be more productive and
profitable, to help their firm gain competitive advantage, to help
their firm reach more customers, or to improve service to their
customers. This holds true for all types of orgs. – Professional,
social, religious, educational; and governmental.

The following are some of the traditional, major categories that are
described to use IS: -
 Transaction processing system

 Management information system

 Executive information system

 Decision support systems

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  Functional area information systems

Chapter 2
IS for competitive advantage
Three ways to use IS:
Automating
For organisational learning
For achieving strategy

IS for automating
Someone with an automating perspective thinks of technology
as a way to help complete a task within an org. faster, more
cheaply, and perhaps with a greater accuracy/ or consistency

IS for organisational learning

The learning mentality builds on automating mentality becoz it
recognises that IS can be used as a vehicle for organisational
learning and change as well as for automation. Described learning
org. as one that is ‘’skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring
knowledge, & at modifying its behaviour to reflect new knowledge &
insights’’.
A combined automating & learning approach, in the long run, is
more effective than automating approach alone.

Using IS to support Total Quality Mgt.

Orgs. that use IS to support a TQM initiative is more likely to be
using these systems with a learning approach.

IS for Supporting Strategy

IS helps to use Org. strategy in a way that it enables the firm to gain
or sustain a competitive advantage over its rival firm.

Some org. strategies

Type of competitive advantage being

pursued
Overall low- Broad
Lower cost differentiation
cost leadership differentiation
strategy strategy

Best low-cost
provider
strategy
Focused low- Focused
cost strategy differentiation
strategy
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 IS & value chain analysis
Mgrs. Use value chain analysis to identify opportunities to use IS for
competitive advantage. The co. produces goods and sells it. The
org. provides customer service after the sale of the product.
Throughout this process, opportunities arise for employees to add
value to the org. by acquiring supplies in a more effective manner,
improving products, & selling more products. This process of adding
value to the org. is known as Value Chain analysis

Outbo
Purchased Opera und Sales & Servic
supplies tions logisti mrktg. e
inbound cs
Product R&D Technology, and Systems devlpt.

Human Resources Mgt

General Admn.

A sample value chain

Role of IS in value chain analysis
The use of IS has become one of the primary ways that orgs
improve their value chains.

Chapter 5
Electronic commerce, intranets & extranets.

E- commerce:
As online exchange of goods, services& money among firms,& b/w
firms and their customers.
Diff. Transactions in E-Commerce
Type Descripition Eg.
Business to Transactions b/w business & their Amazon.co
consumer (B2C) customers m
Business to Transactions among business A
business (B2B) manufactur
er conducts
business

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 over web

Business to Transactions b/w business & their

employee (B2E) employee

Consumer to Transactions b/w people not necessarily EBay.com

Consumer (C2C) working together