Chapter One

I nfo r ma ti o n Sy s te m?
What is

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 Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this chapter, you will be able to:
 Define what an information system is by identifying its major
components
 Describe the basic history of information systems; and
 Describe the basic argument behind the article

"Does IT Matter?" by Nicholas Carr

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 Introduction
The Information Age
 Information in this age is
 produced very quickly,
 analyzed efficiently, and
 distributed effectively.
 Knowledge workers
 constitute the labor force in this age.
 The Internet
 is a major contributor to the information age.
 Information Systems(IS)
 A System
 consists of interacting parts or components,
 is set up to achieve one or more goals.
 An Information System
 is a set of interrelated subsystems,
 works to collect, process, store, transform, and distribute
information,
 helps to plan, make decisions, and control processes.
 A Firm/Company
 depends on information systems to stay competitive.
 Information Systems
People: to help support decision making, coordination,
control, analysis, and visualization in an organization

An
Information
System has all Technology: hardware,
Process: collects,
3 dimensions software, and networks
processes, stores,
working that support the business
and disseminates
together processes and people
information
 Information Systems in Organizations
The table below shows a small list of information systems you can find in a variety
of businesses:
Organization Purpose Description
American Apparel Point-of-Sale POS data (the data recorded when merchandise is sold) is
(POS) System integrated with an inventory database, so more
merchandise can be ordered.
Orange County Employee Web based system that posts job opportunities and lets
Department of Hiring System people apply online. Hiring systems often filter resumes
Education using the digital keywords from the online application.
Hiring systems also manage the application through the
hiring process.
Sales Sales Dashboard The digital dashboard gives a quick view of revenue
Dashboard earned this year compared to last, number of new leads
generated, top 5 products, sales per rep and regional
sales.
Sports Any professional Consultants and specialists to look at various data to
Analytics team make a team more successful and recruit players that
add to the team’s success.
Coursera.com Online education. Video lectures and online assignments are offered for
“Take the world’s free. It costs a nominal fee for a certificate of
best courses, completion.
online, for free.”
Boeing SAP System Integrated enterprise-wide information system that
Corporation handles procurement, manufacturing, marketing, sales,
employee benefits, accounting, finance…and just about
every business function you can think of.
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Obamacare National Individual exchanges for each state in which
healthcare people are required to register to insurance.
system for the
United States
Waze.com Geographic App that provides mapping, traffic reporting
information and routing to avoid traffic.
system.
WireShark Network Software that helps users to examine network
Analyzer traffic to identify problems.
AS-Software.com Sonograms (ex. Specialized software for ultrasound reporting
Seeing a fetus and image management, reporting and
inside the consultation.
mother’s womb)

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 Anthony’s Triangle
S
A convenient way to categorize and understand the purpose of different information
t
systems in organizations:
T r
a a Executive Information Systems (EIS)
O c t for senior management decision making
p t e
e i g Management Information Systems (MIS) for
decision making by middle management
r c i
a a c Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)
t l for daily transactions of the business
i
o
 Information System Components
Several components work together to add value to an
organization:
1. Hardware
2. Software Technology Related
3. Data Roles
4. People
5. Process
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 Technology
 Hardware: physical components
 Software: instructions that tell the physical components what to do
 Operating systems: interacts with the hardware
 Application software: interacts with the user
 Data: a collection of facts
 Networks: allows the transmission and
sharing of data
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 People
 Also known as users
 Person who uses and operates the computer or other machine
 All levels of the organization
 Can be your outside partners such as suppliers

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 Process
• Series of steps to achieve the desired outcome
• Benefits:
– Increased productivity
– Better decision-making ability
– Improved processes using available data
• Within the company
• Externally with suppliers and customers
– Continuous improvement using technology
– Competitive advantage
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 Information System History

1950 -
1970 - Post the
1960
• Mainfra 1980 early
• First Mid 1980s
The Mid 2000s
mes to early • Web
• Manufa microc 1990s to
1990s
ompute • Client early 3.0 now
cturing • Mobile
r (PC) 2000s
Resour • Windo Server • World
• Networ Comput
ce
ws Wide ing
Plannin king • Cloud
operati • ERP Web
g
ng Comput
System
system ing
s
 Does IT Matter?
 The question posed by Nicholas Carr in Harvard Business
Review:
• Information technology has become a commodity
– Similar to a utility
– Cost of doing business, not an investment
• What IT needs:
– Managed to reduce costs
– Ensure that it is always running
– Risk-free as possible
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 Summary
 Defined what an information system is by identifying its major
components
 Described the basic history of information systems; and
 Described the basic argument behind the article "Does IT
Matter?" by Nicholas Carr

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 E nd u
k Yo
Than tention!
ur At
f or y o
? ?? ?
stio n
Qu e

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