Chapter 1

2. Chapter1 Foundations of Information Systems in Business

3. Learning Objectives • Explain why knowledge of information systems is important for business professionals and identify five areas of information systems knowledge they need. • Give examples to illustrate how the business applications of information systems can support a firm’s business processes, managerial decision making, and strategies for competitive advantage.

4. Learning Objectives • Provide examples of several major types of information systems from your experiences with business organizations in the real world. • Identify several challenges that a business manager might face in managing the successful and ethical development and use of information technology in a business.

5. Learning Objectives • Provide examples of the components of real world information systems. Illustrate that in an information system, people use hardware, software, data and networks as resources to perform input, processing, output, storage, and control activities that transform data resources into information products.

6. Why Study Information Systems? • Information technology can help all kinds of businesses improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their business processes, managerial decision making, and workgroup collaboration, thus strengthening their competitive positions in a rapidly changing marketplace.

7. Why Study Information Systems • Internet-based systems have become a necessary ingredient for business success in today’s dynamic global environment. • Information technologies are playing an expanding role in business.

8. Case #1: Athens Olympics Network • What makes the Olympic Games a unique project is that the athletes aren’t going to stop running just because the server does. • Major Components: • Games Management System (GMS) • Information Diffusion System (IDS)

9. Case #1: Athens Olympics Network GMS: • Managed access accreditations for the games IDS: • Collected and distributed event results and rankings to press agencies and certain websites • Live feed for broadcasters commenting on events • Results, rankings, statistics and biographies available to commentators .3 seconds after the athletes crossed the line

10. Case #1: Athens Olympics Network Goals & Constraints: • Reduce the amount of risk • 100% availability • Non-negotiable deadline

11. Case #1: Athens Olympics Network Fail-Safe Plan: • Redundancy • Constructed the network in such a way that service could be provided even if one of the routers was damaged. • Stored data in two physically distant data centers (in different earthquake zones). • Test. Test. Test. “We wanted to be sure that every stupid thing that can happen was planned for.”

12. Case #1: Athens Olympics Network • Could the 2004 Athens Olympics have been a success without all of the networks and backup technologies? • How would your 2004 Olympics experience changed without the GMS and IDS systems? • The 2004 Olympics is a global business. Can a business today succeed without information technology? Why or why not?

13. Case #1: Athens Olympics Network • Claude Philipps said dealing with the “crazy scenarios of what might happen in every area: a network problem, staff stopped in a traffic jam, a security attack… everything that might happen,” was the reason for so much testing. Can you think of other businesses that would require “crazy scenario” testing? Explain.

14. Case #1: Athens Olympics Network • Are the redundancies and backup systems in place limited to one-time systems like those at the Olympics or should they exist in other business environments? Explain your position and provide specific examples.

15. What is an Information System? Any organized combination of people, hardware, software, communications networks, and data resources that stores, retrieves, transforms, and disseminates information in an organization.

16. Information Systems vs. Information Technology • Information Systems (IS) – all components and resources necessary to deliver information and information processing functions to the organization • Information Technology (IT) – various hardware components necessary for the system to operate

17. Types of Information Technologies • Computer Hardware Technologies including microcomputers, midsize servers, and large mainframe systems, and the input, output, and storage devices that support them • Computer Software Technologies including operating system software, Web browsers, software productivity suites, and software for business applications like customer relationship management and supply chain management

18. Types of Information Technologies • Telecommunications Network Technologies including the telecommunications media, processors, and software needed to provide wire-based and wireless access and support for the Internet and private Internet-based networks • Data Resource Management Technologies including database management system software for the development, access, and maintenance of the databases of an organization

19. Conceptual Framework of IS Knowledge

20. Roles of IS in Business

21. Trends in Information Systems

22. What is E-Business? Definition: • The use of Internet technologies to work and empower business processes, electronic commerce, and enterprise collaboration within a company and with its customers, suppliers, and other business stakeholders. • An online exchange of value.

23. E-Business Information Technology Infrastructure

24. Enterprise Collaboration Systems Definition: • Involve the use of software tools to support communication, coordination, and collaboration among the members of networked teams and workgroups.

25. What is E-Commerce? Definition: The buying and selling, and marketing and servicing of products, services, and information over a variety of computer networks.

26. Types of Information Systems

27. Operation Support Systems Definition: • Information systems that process data generated by and used in business operations • Goal is to efficiently process business transactions, control industrial processes, support enterprise communications and collaboration, and update corporate databases

28. Examples of Operations Support Systems • Transaction Processing Systems (TPS) – process data resulting from business transactions, update operational databases, and produce business documents. • Process Control Systems (PCS) – monitor and control industrial processes. • Enterprise Collaboration Systems – support team, workgroup, and enterprise communications an collaboration.

29. A Transaction Processing System Example

30. Management Support Systems Definition: • Information systems that focus on providing information and support for effective decision making by managers

31. Management Support Systems • Management Information Systems (MIS) – provide information in the form of pre-specified reports and displays to support business decision making. • Decision Support Systems (DSS) – provide interactive ad hoc support for the decision making processes of managers and other business professionals. • Executive Information Systems (EIS) – provide critical information from MIS, DSS, and other sources tailored to the information needs of executives.

32. A Decision Support System Example

33. Operational & Managerial IS • Expert Systems – provide expert advice for operational chores or managerial decisions • Knowledge Management Systems – support the creation, organization, and dissemination of business knowledge to employees and managers

34. IS Classifications by Scope • Functional Business Systems – support basic business functions • Strategic Information Systems – support processes that provide a firm with strategic products, services, and capabilities for competitive advantage • Cross-functional Information Systems – integrated combinations of information systems

35. Management Challenges & Opportunities

36. Measures of Success • Efficiency • Minimize costs • Minimize time • Minimize the use of information resources • Effectiveness • Support an organization’s business strategies • Enable its business processes • Enhance its organizational structure and culture • Increase the customer business value of the enterprise

37. Developing IS Solutions

38. The Systems Development Lifecycle

39. Ethical Challenges of IT

40. IT Career Trends • Rising labor costs have resulting in large-scale movement to outsource programming functions to India, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific countries. • More new and exciting jobs emerge each day as organizations continue to expand their wide-scale use of IT. • Frequent shortages of qualified information systems personnel. • Constantly changing job requirements due to dynamic developments in business and IT ensure long-term job outlook in IT remains positive and exciting.

41. The IS Function represents… • A major functional area of business equally as important to business success as the functions of accounting, finance, operations management, marketing, and human resource management. • An important contributor to operational efficiency, employee productivity and morale, and customer service and satisfaction.

42. The IS Function represents… • A major source of information and support needed to promote effective decision making by managers and business professionals. • A vital ingredient in developing competitive products and services that give an organization a strategic advantage in global marketplace.

43. The IS Function represents… • A dynamic, rewarding, and challenging career opportunity for millions of men and women. • A key component of the resources, infrastructure, and capabilities of today’s networked business enterprise.

44. Case #2: Connecting the Mobile Workforce Goals: • Keep 3,500 highly mobile airline pilots: • Trained on the latest technology and procedures • Plugged into the corporate infrastructure • Informed about schedules, weather events, and other facts that affect their jobs • Control costs

45. Case #2: Connecting the Mobile Workforce Productivity and Efficiency Improvements: • Pilots can access updated data electronically. • Pilots can work in a variety of locations including airplanes, airports, hotels, and other remote locations. • Pilots appreciate the convenience of not having to carry heavy manuals and documentation to multiple locations. • Pilots can take their required training on their laptops during downtime in any airport.

46. Case #2: Connecting the Mobile Workforce • Are many of Lufthansa’s challenges identified in the case similar to those being experienced by other businesses in today’s global economy? Explain and provide some examples. • What other tangible and intangible benefits, beyond those identified by Lufthansa, might a mobile workforce enjoy as a result of deploying mobile technologies? Explain.

47. Case #2: Connecting the Mobile Workforce • Lufthansa was clearly taking a big risk with their decision to deploy notebook computers to their pilots. What steps did they take to manage that risk and what others might be needed in today’s business environment? Provide some examples. • How might mobile computing improve your productivity and efficiency? Provide some examples.

48. Case #2: Connecting the Mobile Workforce • What challenges in pilot morale, performance, and management might arise with the use of mobile computing devices in the field and in the cockpit? What preventive actions or solutions to these potential problem areas could you suggest?

49. What is a System? Definition: A group of interrelated components, with a clearly defined boundary, working together toward a common goal by accepting inputs and producing outputs in an organized transformation process.

50. System Components • Input – capturing and assembling elements that enter the system to be processed • Processing – transformation steps that convert input into output • Output – transferring elements that have been produced by a transformation process to their ultimate destination