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Centre for Information & Knowledge Management
INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
Jamie O’BrienCentre for Information & Knowledge
ManagementUniversity of Limerick
Lecture 1
E-mail: [email protected]
Your Lecturer
• My name is Jamie O’Brien
• Researcher in Economics and Knowledge Management
• Academic Background
• Commercial experience
Exam
Assessment Weighting:Class Exercises are designed to reflect the focus of the course
80% Examination
40% Coursework (due March 24th)
Class Website
• Lectures
• Readings
• Exam Papers
Course Structure
• Each lecture concerned with a key module of the course material (the last lecture will include a review/ Q and A session).
• See course description for proposed lecture sequence.
• What we do in lectures will be the exam!
Class Structure
• Wednesday’s 10-1
• 15 minute breaks
• Be on time!
Recommended Reading
• Business Information Systems 3rd ed, Technology, Development & Management for the E-Business, Bocij, Chaffey, Greasley, Hickie.
• Strategic Planning for Information Systems 3rd ed, John Ward, Joe Peppard
• Strategic Management and Information Systems, An integrated approach, (2nd ed), Wendy Robson
What we will cover today
• Data, Information, Knowledge.
• Drivers for Information Management.
• Need for managing information.
• Strategic Value of Information Systems.
• The attributes of good “quality” information.
Introduction
• “Organisational value is delivered not through technology but through applying information, by improved flows of information which require less resources, by better quality of information and knowledge sharing, which improves decision-making” (Chaffey and Wood, 2004).
Data
• Discrete, objective facts about events or items related to business processes and the external environment.
• Data are transformed into information by adding value through context, categorisation, calculations, corrections and condensation.
• Data has little or no value until it has been transformed into information. E.g. today’s date, records of transactions.
Information
• Data that has been processed and transformed into an organised, meaningful and contextually relevant form.
• Used for decision making. • Eg. Bank statement, sales forecast.
• Information:
– Involves transforming data using a defined process
– Involves placing data in some form of meaningful context
– Is produced in response to an information need
– Helps reduce uncertainty, thereby improving decision behaviour
• Information enables organisations to:
– Sense what is happening in the external environment and respond through their strategy and tactics.
– Research demand for new products.– Monitor and control operating processes for
efficiency.– Exchange information with partners.– Communicate messages about products etc
both internally and externally.
Knowledge
• The combination of data and information to which is added expert opinion, skills and experience to result in a valuable asset which can be used to make decisions.
Business Information Management
• The process of managing information as a strategic resource for improving organisational performance. This process involves developing strategies and introducing systems and controls to improve information quality to deliver value.
• Information management is concerned with:
– How information is acquired, recorded and stored
– Where org information resources are located– How information flows– How the organisation uses it– How people who handle it apply their skills and
co-operate with one another– How IT supports the users of information– What information costs and the value it
contributes– How these information related activities
contribute towards the organisations objectives
Information Quality
• Attributes of information quality include:– Time:
• Timeliness• Currency• Frequency• Time period
– Content:• Accuracy• Relevance• Completeness• Conciseness• Scope
– Form• Clarity• Detail• Order• Presentation• Media
– Additional characteristics:• Confidence in the source• Reliability• Appropriate• Received by correct person• Sent by correct channels
Information Types and Sources
• Types:– Structured – presented in reports, tables,
graphs etc.– Unstructured – delivered verbally or ad-
hoc.– Formal – part of established reporting
and communication, e.g. sales figures, supplier directory.
– Informal – ad-hoc communication e.g. email or conversation.
• Sources:
– Internet and WWW– Company/independent reports– Search engines– Invisible web– Intranet– Extranet– Etc…
The Information Lifecycle
• The sequence of activities involved in information management from creation through to permanent deletion of information.
• Information management is a dynamic process involving:
– Capturing– Organising– Processing– Maintaining – Destroying
Levels of Decision Taking
• At the strategic level, managers are concerned with long term organisational planning. Decisions tend to be unstructured and made infrequently e.g. choosing to move into new markets.
• At the tactical level, managers are concerned with medium term planning. They monitor organisational performance, allocate resources, control budgets e.g. setting department budget.
• At the operational level, manager deal with short term planning, day-to-day activities. Decisions are highly structured e.g. setting daily production schedule.
Information characteristics for decisions by Mngt level
Mngt level Time period
Frequency Source Certainty Scope Detail
Strategic Wide Infrequent External Less certain
Wide Summarised
Tactical <-> <-> <-> <-> <-> <->
Operational Narrow Frequent Internal More certain
Narrow Detailed
Introduction to Information Systems.
Data and Information
• Data are the raw material of information, and are typically a stream or sequence of numbers, letters or other characters.
• Information “informs” by placing the raw data in some context or form that has some significance to a reader.
• Raw data alone has little value.
• Examples of this data/information distinction.
How does data become information?
• Data becomes information by the application of context.
• There are six major activities that enable data to be converted to Information.
• These activities are the essential functional basis of every information system (often abbreviated to IS).
Data as Input Info System
Information as Output
The Six Activities
Capturing
Transmitting
Storing
Retrieving
Manipulating
Displaying
Purposes of Information Systems
• Why do organisations use Information Systems?
• IS typically make three broad positive contributions to enabling organisations to attain their objectives:
• Improving Efficiency.
• Enabling Greater Effectiveness.
• Helping to facilitate Competitive advantage.
What do we know?
Can be enormously beneficial
Difficult to implement and manage successfully
Easy scapegoat
Have profound effects on organisations
What Kind of effects?
Information systems change:
1. The tasks or type of work people do.
2. How people are managed.
3. The structure of the organisation.
• These effects are encapsulated in Leavitt’s Diamond.
Leavitt’s Diamond
How do tasks/type of work people do change?
• More efficient?
• More effective?
• More interesting?
• Greater Flexibility?
• Greater traceability/monitoring?
How does managing people change?
• Different skills/training needs
• Different recruitment criteria
• Greater traceability/monitoring
• Ethical and behavioural concerns
How does organisational structure change?
• Flexibility of work practices
• Greater information access
Group Exercise 1: IS Effects (20 mins).
You are the manager of a bank. In order to ensure cost effective training, you have instigated the development of an on-line training system to determine/assess learner needs and provide some basic induction information.
Use Leavitt's diamond to briefly explore the effects this new Information System could have on your office’s structure, work and managerial processes?
Advantages of Information Systems
• Automation
• Employee Job Satisfaction
• Information Access, Control and Structure
• Scalability
• Efficiency
Disadvantages of Information Systems
• Unemployment
• Over-reliance
• Information control issues
• Employee job satisfaction
• User expectations
• Expense
Information Drivers and Needs in Organisations
Information Management Drivers
• Organisational Moves towards standardisation of information formats
• Increasing Consumer Power
• Changes in Employee loyalty behaviour
• Need for Organisational Agility
What motivates IS adoption?
• Desire to Control information: Why?
• Desire to capture and understand External information.
• Desire to capture and understand Internal information.
• Legal and/or ethical Imperatives.
• Any other motivations?
What needs do IS therefore fulfil?
Functional Needs
Imposed Needs
Extended Needs
Control
Internal Information
External Information
Legal / Ethical Issues
External Information
Examples of how IS meets information needs?
• Resource Control..Information System?
• External information capture and understanding.. Information System?
• Internal information capture and understanding. Information System?
• Legal Imperatives. Information System?
• Any other information needs?
Group Ex 2: Information “Needs” (20 minutes).
• Think about and write down some points as regards what you feel to the critical information needs in an organisation and how your chosen system meets (or fails to meet) these needs.
Determining the information “Needs”
• Determining the Info needs is one of the most critical steps in developing a worthwhile information strategy.
Information Audits – determine the needs.
Information Plans – implement a strategy utilising the results of the audit.
Strategic advantages ofInformation systems
Introduction to Information Strategy
A successful information strategy typically:• Reflects the functions and objectives of the
business/organisation in question.
• Meets the functional information needs of the organisation;
• Aims to ensure that the information resources exist to meet those needs and these resources are appropriately organised and managed.
• Typically utilises information technology for the effective storage, retrieval, distribution, communication and security of the information.
“Future proofing” info systems
• Information systems that endure are those that are both:
Robust and Scalable.
Defining Robustness?
Healthy, strong, and durable.
Consistent availability on demand.
Maximum Productivity.
Product of superior design and integrity testing.
Examples?
Defining Scalability?
A scalable system is one that can handle either:
• extra (or reduced) capacity or functionality, without consequences for system productivity/usability.
Can scale vertically (“scale up”) or;• horizontally (“scale out”).
Extra functionality the key issue – prevents obsolescence.
Scalable system design requires experienced participants.
Group Ex 3: Strategic Value of IS (30 minutes).
• Think about and write down some detailed points as regards what you feel to the current (and future if relevant) strategic advantages of an organisation’s information system should be.
Attributes of Information Quality
Attributes of “Good” Information?
• Time – the “When”
• Content – the “What”.
• Form – the “How”.
• Trust – the “Believability”.
• Channelling – Right People /Right Time /Right Form.
Dimensions of Time
• The “When”..
• Timeliness.
• Currency.
• Frequency.
• Time Period.
Dimensions of Content
• The “What”..
• Accuracy.
• Relevance.
• Completeness.
• Conciseness.
• Scope.
Dimensions of Form
• The “How”.
• Clarity.
• Detail.
• Order.
• Presentation.
• Media.
Dimensions of Channelling
• Right People /Right Time /Right Form.
• Mode of Transfer.
• Identity of Receiver.
• Identity of Transmitter.
Group Ex 4: Information “Quality” (30 minutes)
Read the circulated Case Study.
Discuss in Groups of 2-3 the following 2 questions:
1. What were the main information attributes (and sub-dimensions) lacking in the scenario?
2. What corrective measures would you recommend?
What we covered today
• Data, Information, Knowledge.
• Drivers for Information Management.
• Need for managing information.
• Strategic Value of Information Systems.
• The attributes of good “quality” information.
End of Lecture
