The Role of Information Systems in Business Success

1. BEA2005 • Website: www.people.ex.ac.uk/gaharris • Textbook: Management Information Systems, 8th edn, O’Brien and Marakas. • Lecture and tutorial • Assessment is Group Assignment and Exam (Essays, 4 from 6) • Additional reading and case study will be provided. • Lecture notes downloadable from website

2. Foundation Concepts • Why study information systems and information technology? • Vital component of successful businesses • Helps businesses expand and compete • Improves efficiency and effectiveness of business processes • Facilitates managerial decision making and workgroup collaboration COMPONENTS- TRENDS – CHALLENGES – BENEFITS

3. Now… and the near future! • Rapid change • Web 2.0 supports better interaction. • New web, new mode of production. Enables querying of multiple stored resources, updating of data and production of new information in real time. • New structure (requires new architecture) • New platform for innovation • Web is a new resource from which to gain intelligence

4. New deliverables • Smart communications devices • Pervasive ambient computing • Geospatiality (location based services)Devices generate information in real time. Signalling supports triangulation. • Results in opportunities for movement sensing, position related information in real time, Dig, tag objects.

5. Outcome • Rise of web services • Old and original- was HTML – a standard language for defining web based content presentation. • New – is XML – a platform for online computation, data driven services, interaction and collaboration.

6. Effect on work • Data availability and analysis were two separate operations. • New model: Web can be a platform that supports real-time computation, time and cost-saving services and opportunity! • Not your parent’s internet! • Your generation grew up digitised. • Bathed in “bits”

7. Life changing – Industry changing • Time online not wasted • Computing not simply a hobby. (essential resource) • TV no longer main focus (advertising revenues?) • Activity is non-passive • Collaboration. Reading, researching, exercising the mind, processing information. • Youth is an authority on these practices. • It’s your experience that is being adopted by the modern workplace.

8. The Role of Information System Information systems support a firm’s • Business processes • Managerial decision making • Strategies for competitive advantage • INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARE THE BUSINESS • Your task is to understand IS at the correct level of granularity.

9. BEA2005 Study Objectives • The Concept of Systems • Information systems as important tools for business professionals • What areas of information systems knowledge do you need. • Need to recognize the structure and purpose of information systems observed within business organizations in the real world

10. BEA2005 Objectives 4 Identify ethical and logical challenges that management faces when information technology and systems are in place. • Appreciate related career opportunities within your chosen field. • Participate in decisions when IS are being considered as a strategic tool.

11. Why get involved • Information Society • Understand the “commercial and competitive power” of information • Technical knowledge not required • Curiosity, creativity, and confidence to ask question are required. • Probable participation in strategic planning.

12. Business Imperatives  • IT is an expensive and critical resource • Investment in IT must return value (Return on Investment) or can be invested elsewhere.. • Business managers decide how financial resources are allocated. • Business managers evaluate RISK • Business managers evaluate investment performance and expectations.

13. Benefits from Investment in IS  • IS enable change in the way people work together • IS integrate with almost every aspect of the business • IS enable business opportunities and new strategies • IS can be used to combat business challenges from competitors

14. Management Issues • Manager requires ability to manage “change” • Benefits must be balanced against cost • IS place information in the hands of decision makers – closer to point of contact with customer • Business environment is constantly changing • Decisions about IS impact profitsPROFIT=REVENUE-EXPENSES

15. Wrong Strategy  • Wrong IS strategy can destroy a business strategy . (example: wrong type of website) • IS must support organizational systems. (example: new systems but no staff training (example: telecommuting requires appropriate hardware and communications services in appropriate locations) • Now an issue of Governance and Responsibility

16. What is an Information System?  IS is… • People • Hardware and software • Communication networks • Data resources • Policies and procedures • Example: An Accounting System… • Records, stores, retrieves, transforms, and makes available information about an organization to internal and external users, • What are the limits of an accounting sustem?

17. IT / IS ???  • Information Systems • Deliver specified information to authorized users. • Could be paper based • Information Technologies • Hardware, software, networking, data management

18. Span of Knowledge 5 AREAS of INTEREST

19. Growth of IS in Business  Stages of development

20. Trends in Information Systems

21. Trends in Information Systems  Recognisable “Stages of Development” • pre-defined reports • Communication between “Front” and “Back Office”. • Ad-hoc and interactive querying • Enterprise wide “dashboard” displays. • Independence of distance.

22. Along came ….E-Business?  • Using Internet technologies to empower… • Business processes • Electronic commerce • Collaboration within a company • Collaboration with customers, suppliers, and other business stakeholders

23. How E-Business is Being Used 

24. E-Business Use and “Stages of Growth”  • Reengineering • Internal business processes • Enterprise collaboration systems • Support communications, coordination and coordination among teams and work groups • Electronic commerce • Buying, selling, marketing, and servicing of products and services over networks

25. Types of Information Systems  • Operations Support Systems • Efficiently process business transactions • Control industrial processes • Support communication and collaboration • Update corporate databases • Management Support Systems • Provide information as reports and displays • Give direct computer support to managers during decision-making

26. Purposes of Information Systems 

27. Operations Support Systems  • What do they do? • Efficiently process business transactions • Control industrial processes • Support communications and collaboration • Update corporate databases

28. Types of Operations Support Systems  • Transaction Processing Systems • Record and process business transactions • Examples: sales processing, inventory systems, accounting systems • Process Control Systems • Monitor and control physical processes • Example: using sensors to monitor chemical processes in a petroleum refinery • Enterprise Collaboration Systems • Enhance team and workgroup communication • Examples: email, video conferencing

29. When are transactions processed?  • Batch Processing • Accumulate transactions over time and process periodically • Example: a bank processes all checks received in a batch at night • Online Processing • Process transactions immediately • Example: a bank processes an ATM withdrawal immediately FURTHER POSSIBILITY IS The ZERO Time Organisation

30. Systems that support Management  • What do they do? Provide information and support for effective decision making by managers • Management information systems • Decision support systems • Executive information systems

31. Types of Management Support Systems  • Management Information Systems (MIS) • Reports and displays • Example: daily sales analysis reports • Decision Support Systems (DSS) • Interactive and ad hoc support • Example: a what-if analysis to determine where to spend advertising £££££$$$$ • Executive Information Systems (EIS) • Critical information for executives and managers • Example: easy access to actions of competitors

32. additional types of Information Systems  • Expert Systems • Clone the advice of experts • Example: credit application advisor • Knowledge Management Systems • Support creation, organization, and dissemination of business knowledge throughout company • Example: intranet access to best business practices

33. Information Systems can be…  • Strategic Information Systems • Help get a strategic advantage over customer • Examples: shipment tracking, e-commerce Web systems • Functional Business Systems • Focus on operational and managerial applications of basic business functions • Examples: accounting, finance, or marketing

34. IT Challenges and Opportunities 

35. Good Systems don’t just appear! 

36. The “Good” and “Bad”  • Application of IT • Customer relationship management • Human resources management • Business intelligence systems • Potential Harm • Infringements on privacy • Inaccurate information • Collusion

37. Good Intentions – Bad Outcomes  • Potential Risks • Consumer boycotts • Work stoppages • Government intervention • Possible Responses • Codes of ethics • Incentives • Certification

38. Ethical Responsibilities  • What uses of IT might be considered improper or harmful to other individuals or society? • Acceptable use of the Internet or a company’s IT resources? • Protecting information assets from computer crime?

39. Summary of the IS Function  • The IS function is… • A major functional area of business • An important contributor to operational efficiency, employee productivity, morale, customer service and satisfaction • A major source of information and support for decision making • A vital ingredient in developing competitive products and services in the global marketplace • A dynamic and challenging career opportunity • A key component of today’s networked business

40. Again…What is a System? • A system is… • A set of interrelated components • Working together as planned…. • To achieve a common set of objectives • By accepting inputs and producing outputs An organized transformation process

41. Basic Functions of a System  • Input • Capturing and assembling elements that enter the system to be processed • Processing • Transformation process that converts input into output • Output • Transferring transformed elements to their ultimate destination

42. Cybernetic System  • All systems have input, processing, and output • A cybernetic system, a self-monitoring, self-regulating system, adds feedback and control: • Feedback is data about the performance of a system • Control involves monitoring and evaluating feedback to determine whether a system is moving toward the achievement of its goal

43. A Cybernetic System 

44. A Business as a System 

45. Other System Characteristics • If a system is one of the components of a larger system, it is a subsystem • The larger system is an environment • Several systems may share the same environment • Some may be connected via a shared boundary, or interface • Types of systems… • Open • Adaptive

46. Components of an IS

47. Information System Resources  • People Resources • Specialists • End users • Hardware Resources • Machines • Media • Software Resources • Programs • Procedures

48. Information System Resources  • Data Resources • Product descriptions, customer records, employee files, inventory databases • Network Resources • Communications media, communications processors, network access and control software • Information Resources • Management reports and business documents using text and graphics displays, audio responses, and paper forms