Information Systems, Tenth Edition

Information Systems,
Tenth Edition
Chapter 2
Information Systems in Organizations
Information Systems, Tenth Edition

Principles and Learning Objectives
• The use of information systems to add value to the
organization is strongly influenced by
organizational structure, culture, and change
– Identify the value-added processes in the supply
chain and describe the role of information systems
within them
– Provide a clear definition of the terms “organizational
structure,” “culture,” and “change” and discuss how
they affect the type of information systems that the
organization implements

(continued)
• Because information systems are so important,
businesses need to be sure that improvements or
completely new systems help lower costs, increase
profits, improve service, or achieve a competitive
advantage
– Define the term “competitive advantage” and identify
the factors that lead firms to seek competitive
advantage
– Discuss strategic planning for competitive advantage
– Describe how the performance of an information
system can be measured

(continued)
• IS personnel is a key to unlocking the potential of
any new or modified system
– Define the types of roles, functions, and careers
available in the field of information systems

Why Learn About Information Systems
in Organizations?
• Organizations of all types use information systems
to cut costs and increase profits
• Although your career might be different from your
classmates’:
– You will almost certainly work with computers and
information systems

Organizations and Information
Systems
• Organization:
– Formal collection of people and other resources
established to accomplish a set of goals
– A system
– Constantly uses money, people, materials, machines
and other equipment, data, information, and
decisions

Systems (continued)

Systems (continued)
• Value chain:
– Series (chain) of activities that includes inbound
logistics and warehouse and storage
• Supply chain management (SCM)
– Determines:
• What supplies are required for value chain
• What quantities are needed to meet customer demand
• How supplies should be processed into finished goods
and services
• How shipment of supplies and products to customers
should be scheduled, monitored, and controlled
Systems (continued)

Systems (continued)
• Customer relationship management (CRM)
programs:
– Help companies manage all aspects of customer
encounters
– Can get customer feedback to help design new
products and services

Organizational Structures
• Organizational structure:
– Organizational subunits and the way they relate to
the overall organization
• Types of organizational structures:
– Traditional
– Project
– Team
– Virtual

Organizational Structures (continued)
• Traditional organizational structure:
– Hierarchy of decision making and authority flows:
• From the strategic management at the top down to
operational management and nonmanagement
employees
– Flat organizational structure:
• Empowers employees at lower levels
– Empowerment:
• Gives employees and their managers more
responsibility and authority to make decisions



• Project and team organizational structures:
– Project organizational structure:
• Centered on major products or services
• Many project teams are temporary
– Team organizational structure:
• Centered on work teams or groups
• Team can be temporary or permanent, depending on
tasks


• Virtual organizational structure and collaborative
work:
– Virtual organizational structure:
• Uses individuals, groups, or complete business units
in geographically dispersed areas
• Can reduce costs for an organization
– Allows collaborative work:
• Managers and employees can effectively work in
groups, even those composed of members from
around the world

Organizational Culture and Change
• Culture:
– Set of major understandings and assumptions
shared by a group
• Organizational culture:
– Major understandings and assumptions
– Influences information systems
• Organizational change:
– How organizations plan for, implement, and handle
change

(continued)
• Change model:
– Represents change theories by identifying phases of
change and the best way to implement them
• Unfreezing:
– Ceasing old habits and creating a climate that is
receptive to change
• Moving:
– Learning new work methods, behaviors, and
systems

(continued)
• Refreezing:
– Involves reinforcing changes to make the new
process second nature, accepted, and part of the job
• Organizational learning:
– The adaptations to new conditions or adjustments
based on experience and ideas over time

(continued)

Reengineering and Continuous
Improvement
• Reengineering:
– Process redesign
– Radical redesign of business processes,
organizational structures, information systems, and
values of the organization to achieve a breakthrough
in business results
• Continuous improvement:
– Constantly seeking ways to improve business
processes and add value to products and services

Improvement (continued)



User Satisfaction and Technology
Acceptance
• Technology acceptance model (TAM):
– Specifies the factors that can lead to better attitudes
about the information system
• Technology diffusion:
– Measure of how widely technology is spread
throughout an organization
• Technology infusion:
– Extent to which technology permeates a department

User Satisfaction and Technology
Acceptance (continued)

Quality
• Ability of a product or service to meet or exceed
customer expectations
• Techniques used to ensure quality:
– Total quality management
– Six Sigma

Quality (continued)

Outsourcing, On-Demand Computing,
and Downsizing
• Outsourcing:
– Contracting with outside professional services
• On-demand computing:
– Also called on-demand business or utility computing
– Rapidly responding to the organization’s flow of work
as the need for computer resources varies
• Downsizing:
– Reducing number of employees to cut costs

Competitive Advantage
• Significant and (ideally) long-term benefit to a
company over its competition
• Can result in higher-quality products, better
customer service, and lower costs

Factors That Lead Firms to Seek
Competitive Advantage
• The five forces model:
– Rivalry among existing competitors
– Threat of new entrants
– Threat of substitute products and services
– The bargaining power of buyers
– The bargaining power of suppliers

Competitive Advantage (continued)
• Rivalry among existing competitors:
– Industries with stronger rivalries tend to have more
firms seeking competitive advantage
• Threat of new entrants:
– Threat appears when:
• Entry and exit costs to an industry are low
• Technology needed to start and maintain a business
is commonly available

Competitive Advantage (continued)
• Threat of substitute products and services:
– The more consumers can obtain similar products
and services that satisfy their needs, the more likely
firms are to try to establish competitive advantage
• Bargaining power of customers and suppliers:
– When customers have a lot of bargaining power,
companies increase their competitive advantage to
retain their customers

Strategic Planning for Competitive
Advantage
• Strategies:
– Cost leadership
– Differentiation
– Niche strategy
– Altering the industry structure
– Creating new products and services
– Improving existing product lines and service

Strategic Planning for Competitive
Advantage (continued)
• Other strategies:
– Growth in sales
– First to market
– Customizing products and services
– Hiring the best people
– Innovation

Performance-Based Information
Systems
• Major stages in the use of information systems:
– Cost reduction and productivity
– Competitive advantage
– Performance-based management

Productivity
• A measure of output achieved divided by input
required
• Higher level of output for a given level of input
means greater productivity
• Lower level of output for a given level of input
means lower productivity
• Productivity = (Output / Input) × 100%

Return on Investment and the Value of
Information Systems
• Return on investment (ROI):
– One measure of IS value
– Investigates the additional profits or benefits that are
generated as a percentage of the investment in IS
technology
• Earnings growth
– The increase in profit that the system brings

Return on Investment and the Value of
Information Systems (continued)
• Market share and speed to market:
– The percentage of sales that a product or service
has in relation to the total market
• Customer awareness and satisfaction:
– Performance measurement is based on feedback
from internal and external users
• Total cost of ownership:
– The sum of all costs over the life of the information
system

Risk
• Managers must consider the risks of designing,
developing, and implementing systems
• Information systems can sometimes be costly
failures

Careers in Information Systems
• Degree programs:
– Information systems
– Computer information systems
– Management information systems
• U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor
Statistics (www.bls.gov):
– Predicts that many technology jobs will increase
through 2012 or beyond

Roles, Functions, and Careers in IS
• Primary responsibilities in information systems:
– Operations:
• System operators primarily run and maintain IS
equipment
– Systems development:
• Focuses on specific development projects and
ongoing maintenance and review

Roles, Functions, and Careers in IS
• Primary responsibilities in information systems
(continued):
– Support:
• Provides user assistance in hardware and software
acquisition and use, data administration, user training
and assistance, and Web administration
– Information service units:
• A miniature IS department attached and directly
reporting to a functional area in a large organization

Typical IS Titles and Functions
• Chief information officer (CIO)
– Employs the IS department’s equipment and
personnel to help the organization attain its goals
• LAN administrators
– Set up and manage the network hardware, software,
and security processes

Typical IS Titles and Functions
(continued)
• Internet careers:
– Internet strategists and administrators
– Internet systems developers
– Internet programmers
– Internet or Web site operators
• Certification:
– Process for testing skills and knowledge resulting in
an endorsement by the certifying authority

Other IS Careers
• New and exciting careers have developed in
security and fraud detection and prevention
• Other IS career opportunities include being
employed by technology companies, such as:
– Microsoft (www.microsoft.com), Google
(www.google.com), Dell (www.dell.com), and many
others

Working in Teams
• It is always good for IS professionals to:
– Have good communications skills and the ability to
work with other people
• Getting the best team of IS personnel to work on
important projects is:
– Critical in successfully developing new information
systems or modifying existing ones

Finding a Job in IS
• Developing an online résumé can be critical to
finding a good job
• Job search approaches:
– On campus visits
– Referrals from professors, friends, and family
members
– The Internet:
• Online job sites
• Company Web sites
• Social networking sites
• Blogs

Summary
• Organizations:
– Systems with inputs, transformation mechanisms, and
outputs
• Categories of organizational structure:
– Traditional, project, team, and virtual
• Organizational culture:
– Major understandings and assumptions
• Reengineering:
– Radical redesign of business processes,
organizational structures, information systems, and
values of the organization
Summary (continued)
• Total quality management:
– A collection of approaches, tools, and techniques
that fosters a commitment to quality
• Outsourcing:
– Contracting with outside professional services
• Downsizing:
– Reducing number of employees
• Competitive advantage:
– Usually embodied in either a product or service that
has the most added value to consumers
Summary (continued)
• Return on investment (ROI):
– Investigates the additional profits or benefits that are
generated as a percentage of the investment in IS
technology
• Information systems personnel:
– Typically work in an IS department
• IS personnel:
– Need skills in written and verbal communication

Information Systems, Tenth Edition

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Information Systems, Tenth Edition

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Information Systems, Tenth Edition

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Information Systems,