Lecture1 (IS201) (is Concept)

Abdisalam Issa-Salwe, Lecture Notes, Thames Valley University, 2008.Abdisalam Issa-Salwe, Lecture Notes, Thames Valley University, 2008.

Introduction Information Systems

Foundation

(Information Systems Foundation IS201)

Abdisalam Issa-Salwe

Taibah University

College of Computer Science & Engineering

Information Systems Department

Lecture 1

Abdisalam Issa-Salwe, Lecture Notes, Taibah University, KSA, 2011.2

Abdisalam Issa-Salwe, Faculty of Computer Science & Engineering, Taibah University

Learning aim

� Explain an approach that an organisation may follow to formulate its strategic business objectives

� Discuss how information systems may be used to assist in achieving these objectives

� Distinguish between a business strategy and an information systems strategy

� Identify responsibility for the ownership of the IS strategy



Why Information Systems?

� Today it is widely recognised that information systems knowledge is essential for managers because most organisations need information systems to survive and prosper.

� Information systems can help companies extend their reach to faraway locations, offer new products and services, reshape jobs and work flows, and perhaps profoundly change the way they conduct business.



Changing Contemporary Business Environment

� Four powerful worldwide changes have altered the business environment. The first change is

�Globalisation

�Transformation of the Enterprise

�Transformation of Industrial Economies

�Emergence of the Digital Firm



Globalisation

� Management and control in a global marketplace

� Competition in world markets

� Global work groups

� Global delivery systems





Transformation of the Enterprise

� Flattening

� Decentralisation

� Flexibility

� Location independence

� Low transaction and coordination costs

� Empowerment

� Collaborative work and teamwork



Transformation of Industrial Economies

� Knowledge- and information-based economies

� Productivity

� New products and services

� Knowledge: a central productive and strategic asset

� Time-based competition

� Shorter product life

� Turbulent environment

� Limited employee knowledge base



Emergence of the Digital Firm

� Digitally enabled relationships with customers, suppliers, and employees

� Core business processes accomplished via digital networks

� Digital management of key corporate assets

� Rapid sensing and responding to environmental changes



Globalisation of world economy

� The success of firms today and in the future depends on their ability to operate globally.

� Today, information systems provide the communication and analytic power that firms need for conducting trade and managing businesses on a global scale.



Globalisation of world economy (cont…)

� Globalisation and information technology also bring new threats to domestic business firms

� Global communication and management systems, customers now can shop in a worldwide marketplace, obtaining price and quality information reliably 24 hours a day




� The knowledge and information revolution began at the turn of the twentieth century and has gradually accelerated

� Knowledge and information are becoming the foundation for many new services and products.

� Knowledge- and information-intense products such as computer games require a great deal of knowledge to produce.



� In a knowledge- and information-based economy, information technology and systems take on great importance.

� Knowledge-based products and services of great economic value, such as credit cards, overnight package delivery, and worldwide reservation systems, are based on new information technologies.




Definition of Information Systems

� An organised method of transforming data into information that can be used for decision making. (wps.prenhall.com/ca_ph_ebert_busess_3/0,6518,224378-,00.html)

� The general term for computer systems in an organisation that provide information about its business operations. (www.iib.qld.gov.au/itcareers/talk.asp)

� A structured, interacting, complex of persons, machines, and procedures designed to produce information which is collected from both internal and external sources for use as a basis for decision-making in specific contract/procurement activities. (www.projectauditors.com/Dictionary/I.html).



Definition of Information Systems (cont…)

� The function within a business organisation that facilitates data processing and enables the resulting information to be made available to employees who need it. Also known as information technology. (www.minnesotamutual.com/news/glossary_pages/glossary_i.html)

� the entire infrastructure, organisation, personnel, and components that collect, process, store, transmit, display, disseminate, and act on information (www.155.217.58.58/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/fm/100-6/glossary.htm)



What is Information System (IS)?

� A system is a set of interacting components that operate together to accomplish a purpose.

� A set of interrelated elements or components that collect (input), manipulate (process), and disseminate (output) data and information and provide a feedback mechanism to meet an objective.

� Information Systems (IS) consist of technology tools and systems that help to acquire, sustain, and proliferate information.



� An information system can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision making, coordination and control in an organisation.

� IS support decision making, helps managers to coordinate and control organisation

What is Information System (IS)? (cont…)



Why IS is important to organisations?

� Understand the role and relevance of an information system aids to decision making.

� Identifying and evaluating appropriate information systems.

� Managing the process of information gathering, processing, storage and retrieval

� Managers make decisions using the information available to them at the time.



Why IS is important to organisations? (cont…)

� System emphasizing a fair degree of integration view;

� Information stressing on processed data which it is used by end users;

� Management focusing on the ultimate use systems for managerial decision making.



MIS Concept

MIS Role: Increased Business & Management Complexities



Increased Management Complexities

� � Technological Revolution

� � Research & Development

� � Explosion of Information

� � Management Science Technologies

� � Decision-making

� � Onset of Computers



Functional Uses of MIS

Enhance :

� � Quality of our operations

� � Quality of our services

We achieve :

� � Efficiency

� � Transparency

� � Speedy Decision making



Information as Critical

� The information we have is not what we want,

� The information we want is not the information we need,

� The information we need is not available.



Strategic Uses of MIS

� Precise development of strategies, planning, forecasting and monitoring

� Problem solving

� Decision-making

� Separate work from location



Life-blood of the organisationLife-blood of the organisationLife-blood of the organisation



Life-blood of the organisation (cont…)

� To ensure effective and efficient decision making leading to prosperity of the Organisation.

� Information as Resource

• It is scarce

• It has a cost

• It has alternative uses

• There is an opportunity cost actor involved if one does not process information



Why MIS?

� Right Information

� To the right person

� At the right place

� At the right time

� In the right form

� At the right cost



Organisational Information Requirement

Organisations require information for various purposes:

� Information for planning

� Information for controlling

� Information for recording transactions

� Information for performance measurement

� Information for decision making



Organisational Information Requirement (cont…)

� Planning: Planning requires a knowledge of the available resources, possible time-scales and the likely outcome under alternative scenarios.

� Controlling: Information is required to assess whether it is proceeding as planned or whether there is some unexpected deviation from the plan. It may consequently be necessary to take some form of corrective action.



� Recording Transactions: Information about

each transaction or event is required, i.e. (a) for documentation of transactions, (b)

record transactions, for example for accounting, audit and Tax purposes, and

(c) permit the necessary controlling action to be taken.

� Performance measurement: Comparisons against budget or the business plan are able to be undertaken.





� Decision making: Just as decision making can be analysed into three levels, so information necessary to make decisions within an organisation can be analysed in the same way.



Classification through functional disciplines



Organisational Systems and MIS



IS and Business Strategy

� From a business perspective, an information system is an organisational and management solution, based on information technology, to a challenge posed by the environment.

� To fully understand information systems, a manager must understand the broader organisation, management, and information technology dimensions of systems and their power to provide solutions to challenges and problems in the business environment.



IS and Business Strategy (cont…)

� Organisation has a limited set of resources (e.g. time, people, money, physical resources) and they must decide how to use those resources.

� Strategy is deciding what the organisation is going to do and how it will use its resources

� A business system is a collection of people, machines and methods organised to accomplish a set of specific functions.



IS and Business Strategy (cont…)

� Contributing to the establishment of the organisation's long term business objectives e.g. identifying and evaluating external factors which may impact on the organisation

� Identifying and appraising the organisation's skills and resources

� Identifying and defining business options; evaluating these options, performing risk assessments and recommending strategies for adoption

� Analysing market and competitive developments in relation to marketing strategy

� Advising managers on critical economic and financial developments

(CIMA Practical Experience Guidelines from January 2003)

37Abdisalam Issa-Salwe, Faculty of Computer Science & Engineering, Taibah University

Major Business Functions



Definitions of information

� Data that has been interpreted, translated, or transformed to reveal the underlying meaning; (www.nrcan.gc.ca/cfs-scf/science/prodserv/kmglossary_e.html)

� Data that have been processed and presented in a form suitable for human interpretation, often with the purpose of revealing trends or patterns. (www.gtscompanies.com/glosscomp.html



� Information systems contain information about significant people, places, and things within the organisation or in the environment surrounding it.

� By information we mean data that have been shaped into a form that is meaningful and useful to human beings

Information and Data



� Data are streams of raw facts representing events occurring in organisations or the physical environment before they have been organised and arranged into a form that people can understand and use.

Information and Data (cont…)



Information and Data (cont…)

� Three basic activities—input, processing, and output—produce the information organisations need.

� Feedback is output returned to appropriate people or activities in the organisation to evaluate and refine the input.

� Environmental factors such as customers, suppliers, competitors, stockholders, and regulatory agencies interact with the organisation and its information systems.



The making of information



Reference

� Laudon, K. & Laudon, J. (2006): Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 9th ed. Prentice Hall

� BPP, Information Systems, Study Text, Paper 2.1, BPP Professional Education, United Kingdom.

� Abdisalam Issa-Salwe, Lecture Notes, Thames Valley University, 2008.

� Lachlan M. MacKinnon, Information: Types of Information System Systems, http://www.macs.hw.ac.uk/~lachlan/dbislectures/lectures/types.ppt,



Topic Questions

� What are the forces leading today’s world economies?

� Explain the importance of information to organisations

� What is the difference between information and data

� What is the role of information systems in today's competitive business environment?

� What exactly is an information system? What do managers need to know about information systems?

� How are information systems transforming organisations and management?

� How has the Internet and Internet technology transformed business?

� What are the major management challenges to building and using information systems?

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Lecture1 (IS201) (is Concept)