MIS 301 Information Systems in Organizations

1. MIS 301Information Systems in Organizations Dave Salisbury salisbury@udayton.edu (email) http://www.davesalisbury.com/ (web site)

2. Oh, the places we’ll go! • Information systems and technology playing key roles for Great Britain during World War II • Fighter command dispersal information systems • Code-breaking at Bletchley Park • What we’re going to be about this term • Basic assumptions & where we’ve come from • Why we invest in Information Systems & Information Technology (IS&T) • Technology trends and how business is changing • Why study information systems & what are they • The “big picture” • Some implications of advancing information technology innovation • How IS&T influences organizational strategy

3. The problem in 1939 for the UK… • A large, well-trained, well-funded and battle-tested military has designs on invading your country • It will first launch air attacks to destroy your air force • Then its army will invade via the sea • Further, it has a modern and well-organized Navy that is aggressively prosecuting attacks against your shipping lanes, threatening to cut off your country from external supplies

4. Defensive response – the RAF • Constant patrols are unfeasible, because it wears out aircraft and pilots, and often misses the attackers on the way in • New technologies are available that can provide you with raw data about aircraft location, direction and speed • How to translate that data into meaningful, actionable information is the question • Instructions for fighter bases to launch fighters • Instructions for fighter pilots once airborne to meet and engage the attackers

5. An information system for the RAF • Supported the activities of fighter pilots during the Battle of Britain • Made it possible to draw data from radar stations (a new technology) and observer stations and turn it into instructions to fighter pilots intercepting attackers and anti-aircraft positions firing on the attackers • Developed during the late 1930’s

6. The inputs for the RAF • Detection stations on the British coast • Could detect aircraft • 40 miles away at 5000 feet • 140 miles away at 30000 feet • Supplemented by 1000 visual observation posts

7. Data inputs

8. Radar Teleprinters Telephones Large table-map Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) members Croupier rakes Tote boards Operations room clocks Incomings color coded with flags of either red, yellow, or blue Color-indicated times were assigned according to the position of the minute hand Relevant color transposed to the operations map Fighter aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Hawker Hurricane The RAF technology

9. Technology

10. More technology

11. The RAF organization • Fighter Command • Four geographical units • Sectors • Airbases • Squadrons • Anti-Aircraft Command

12. RAF Organization

13. RAF Division of labor • Command level could move reinforcements between groups • Groups deployed squadrons • Sector controllers deployed squadrons against raids assigned to that sector, vectoring aircraft to intercept • Up-to-date information enabled various levels to make decisions in real time

14. The RAF processes • Data from radar chains and observer posts telephoned to Fighter Command Headquarters • “Filtered” or assessed for quality with the sources integrated and inconsistencies resolved, then plotted • Plots recorded on table maps, maintained by WAAF • Tote boards used to keep track of squadron readiness • Raids allocated among available squadrons • Once airborne and vectored to engagement, squadron leaders were in command

15. RAF Processes

16. The outputs for the RAF • Warnings to various anti-aircraft batteries and barrage balloons • Vectoring instructions to fighter squadrons to engage attackers

17. IS lessons learned from the RAF • The technology is not central • Computer technology (as we know it today) simply didn’t exist • When building the system, the users didn’t know radar existed (its existence was a closely-held secret) – it was only described as a packet of features • German radar was better than British radar, yet the RAF-FCIS was more effective • Keeping abreast of technology is important to understand what sorts of things are possible

18. More IS lessons from the RAF • Systems, to add value, must be directed to purposeful action • Technology is nice, but it must be used to do something • Once the main action to be supported is understood, this will drive what data will be collected and processed • Information systems should be concerned with the conversion of raw data into actionable information • Systems development is a collaborative effort involving designers and users

19. Outcome of the Battle • Luftwaffe never gains control of UK skies; suffers its first defeat • Operation Sea Lion never happens • UK used as a base for allied bombers, fighters and as a launching point for the invasion of Normandy in 1944 • What if the UK had fallen?

20. How valuable was IS to the RAF? 'All the ascendancy of the Hurricanes and Spitfires would have been fruitless but for this system which had been devised and built before the war. It had been shaped and refined in constant action, and all was now fused together into a most elaborate instrument of war, the like of which existed nowhere in the world.‘ Winston Churchill, The Second World War

21. Bletchley Park and Ultra • Government Code and Cypher School • Ultra refers to the effort by the UK to break the German Enigma code • Mathematicians working on both the code-breaking algorithms and the computational systems to break them • Information technology – led to the development of one of the worlds’ first digital computers • Linked to efforts at NCR in the US in Building 26 (was at the corner of Stewart Street and Patterson Avenue)

22. Response to use of IT by Germany • German U-Boats • Coded radio messages to coordinate attacks • “Wolf packs” • Sinking thousands of tons of shipping destined for Britain • Ships were a vital link • Sinking two 6,000 ton ships full of equipment and one tanker with 3,000 tons of fuel was a huge loss • Equivalent to the damage done by 3,000 bombing missions • Enigma • 2 * 10145 theoretically possible encryption permutations • 1 *1080 known atoms

23. Enigma 3-wheel 4-wheel

24. Bletchley Park Inputs • Stolen Enigma machines • Analysis of code machines to reduce the number of possible permutations • Mathematical formulae • Intercepted messages • “Cribs” • Predictable patterns in messages that made it easier to break - “Cilla” • Predictable patterns in the Enigma machines themselves

25. Bletchley Park Processes • Decoding intercepts using procedures and technology developed for the task; so-called “Bombes” • Were highly successful at breaking encoded messages created using the 3-wheel Enigma machines • The Germans developed a 4-wheel machine in 1942 • Increased the number of possible permutations by an order of magnitude • Not surprising that Atlantic ship tonnage sunk tripled in the last ½ of 1942 compared to the last ½ of 1941

26. Bletchley Park Outputs • Decoded message intercepts • Used by the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and other allied assets to track German submarine movements • Sunken German U-Boats and surface ships

27. How does NCR & Dayton fit in? • The Germans went to 4-wheel Enigma machines • Possible permutations in the code increased even more • Needed more computational horsepower to throw at the problem • Needed to build a more sophisticated Bombe • OP20G (US Navy) contracted with NCR to build it • Lead engineer was Joseph Desch (a UD alum, by the way) • US Bombe effort was successful – by 1945, over 70% of Enigma intercepts were decoded by NCR bombes • By 1944 OP20G had taken over nearly complete control of breaking “Shark” (4-wheel Enigma) intercepts

28. Lessons from Bletchley Park & NCR • It isn’t just the technology – it’s the management • Enigma used properly would have been much more difficult to break • Routines and patterns led to “cribs” that made it easier to break • Some more sophisticated technology was never rolled out by Germany due to difficulties in doing so • Still, one has to understand the technology • British analyses of Enigma machines led to understanding that the number of permutations could be reduced • Joe Desch’s decision to make the NCR bombe electro-mechanical • Less complex • More reliable

29. Lessons from Bletchley Park & NCR • Large scale systems development effort • Developing the algorithms to break Enigma • Developing the technology to do the calculations more rapidly • Managing people to use technology to realize a goal • Diverse teams and personalities • Global cooperation between GCCS and OP20G • Inter-organizational cooperation between OP20G and NCR • Perils of assuming better technology leads to better solution • German belief that Enigma was unbreakable • MIT focus on vacuum tubes for the US bombe

30. Lessons from Bletchley Park & NCR • Changing the basis for competition in an industry • Coordination using information & communication technologies by Kreigsmarine U-boat “wolf packs” • Changes to the nature of message encryption itself • Germans with the Enigma • Mathematical basis for coding • Heavy use of analytics • Turning disadvantages into advantages • Procedural predictability of German military • Predictability enabled by “stecker board” • The value of flexibility • Desch’s decision to make the bombe changeable from 3-wheel to 4-wheel Enigma solutions • The inflexibility of earlier personnel at OP20G in particular (belief that mathematics was not the key to breaking the new codes) led to delay of US effort in attacking Enigma

31. People, procedures, technology, task • People • Alan Turing • Joe Desch • Procedures - development of algorithms and processes to break codes • Technology - code machines and Bombes • Task - break Enigma codes

32. History of IT&S in Business • Early Days • Automation • Accounting focus • Later • Support business • Functional focus • Today • Empower business • Strategic & process focus

33. Views on the role and importance of Information Systems Our information resources dept makes a major contribution to profitability. We expect our VP of IT to provide ideas for improving company performance just the same way as we rely on sales, manufacturing and engineering executives for their contributions We have shaped up data processing very nicely since the early 1990's. We have developed many new systems to support our operations . As computing costs come down , we expect that more systems will be justified and implemented IT is our top strategic concern, not because it outweighs everything else, but because we are unsure what to do with it. Although we understand other parts of our business strategy, IT issues keep eluding us. We make good technical decisions and our systems work well but we can't seem to grasp the bigger picture. Don’t even ask about our e-business efforts. Our IT manager does a fine job. He handles all those technical details no one else understands quickly and without complaining. We can always count on Charlie

34. Why We Invest in IS&T StrategicSystems Revenue + + ManagementSupport & DecisionSystems IS&TInvestment Profit – – OperationalSystems Costs

35. An Example of Digital Economy – New Implementations • E-Business: The use of electronic technologies to transact business. • Collaboration: People and Organizations interact, communicate, collaborate and search for information • Information Exchange: Storing, processing and transmission of information.

36. Digitization creates new opportunities • Digitization turns information into zeros & ones • Digital information (be it text, audio, or video) is more easily transmitted with no loss of quality • Resulting is mixing of traditionally separated businesses • This is most pronounced in information intense businesses – once you have information you can digitize it and move it around with no quality loss to anywhere

37. Taking photos the “old” way • Buy film in a store • Load your camera • Take pictures • Take roll of film to store for processing • Pickup the film when ready • Select specific photos for enlargement • Mail to family and friends

38. Taking photos the “new” way • 1st Generation Digital Photography • Old economy except 6 and 7 were replaced by using a scanner and emailing • 2nd Generation Digital Photography • Use a Digital Camera, no film, no processing • 3rd Generation Digital Photography • Your Digital Camera is now your mobile phone, in your binoculars or a palmtop computer

39. Drivers Forcing Changes In Business Models • Business Pressures • Environmental, organizational, and technological • Highly competitive business environment • Instable, unpredictable • Business Critical Response Activities • Companies need to react frequently and rapidly • Rapidly emerging threats and the opportunities • Defend from extant & potential future pressures • Exploit opportunities created by change

40. Why Study Information Systems? • You will be more effective in your chosen career if you understand how successful information systems are built, used, and managed. • You also will be more effective if you know how to recognize and avoid unsuccessful systems and failures. • According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Top seven fastest growing occupations fall within IT or computer related field” • Developing “Computer” Literacy will only enhance your “Information” Literacy

41. Technology versus Systems • Technology • Computers • Telephones • Tools • Systems • Intelligent application of technology along with people and procedures to do something useful

42. What is a System? 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

43. What is an Information System? System to Support a Business Process Feedback/Control Input of Data Resources(Forms) Data Processing(Updates,Queries) Output of Information(Reports) Data Storage

44. System to Support a Business Process Input of Data Resources(Forms) Data Processing(Updates,Queries) Output of Information(Reports) Network People Data Storage Software Data Hardware Other Systems IS Components/Resources

45. Systems Interact w/ Other Systems

46. The Inter-Networked Business The Internet Suppliers and Other Business Partners Company Boundary Procurement, Distribution, and Logistics Engineering & Research Accounting, Finance, and Management Manufacturing and Production Extranets Intranets Advertising Sales Customer Service Extranets Consumer and Business Customers

47. The IS&T Big Picture • Creating, supporting and enhancing organizational socio-technical systems • Leveraging the informational component of a product, service, business process or business relationship • Enable redesign of business processes • Business modeling • Data • Processes • Process & deliver information to decision-makers

48. Even More of the IS&T Big Picture • Processes, data & technology should be secured against misuse • Individual lives are represented in the information stored and processed by these systems • Increasingly inter-networked world, potential exploits in one individual or organization’s systems can translate into damage for other systems • To apply IT, one must understand it • Communications infrastructure and technology standards • Evaluate current and emergent technologies

49. Some implications of IS&T • Information Asymmetry • The extent to which one party in an exchange knows something the other doesn’t – this is being reduced • Richness • Information content within a given time • Degree of customization • Dialog between provider & receiver • Reach • Number of people receiving information

50. Some more implications of IS&T • Big firms can work like small firms • Hotel information systems • High-performance farming • Small firms can work like big firms • Internet/Virtual Businesses • Limited need for Physical Facilities