Why Information Systems Matter: There Are Four Reasons Why IT Makes A Difference To The Success of A Business
Why Information Systems Matter: There Are Four Reasons Why IT Makes A Difference To The Success of A Business
Why Information Systems Matter: There Are Four Reasons Why IT Makes A Difference To The Success of A Business
Why Information Systems Matter There are four reasons why IT makes a difference to the success of a business: Capital management Foundation of doing business Productivity Strategic opportunity and advantage
1.1
Capital Management: IT is the largest single component of capital investment in the United States. About $1.8 trillion is spent each year by American businesses. Managers and business students need to know how to invest this capital wisely. The success of your business in the future may well depend on how you make IT investment decisions.
1.2
Information technology investment, defined as hardware, software, and communications equipment, grew from 34% to 50% between 1980 and 2004.
Source: Based on data in U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Income and Product Accounts, 2006.
1.3
Most businesses today could not operate without extensive use of information systems and technologies. IT can increase market share.
IT can help a business become a high-quality, low-cost producer. IT is vital to the development of new products.
1.4
There is a growing interdependence between a firms information systems and its business capabilities. Changes in strategy, rules, and business processes increasingly require changes in hardware, software, databases, and telecommunications. Often, what the organization would like to do depends on what its systems will permit it to do.
1.5
Productivity: IT is one of the most important tools managers have to increase productivity and efficiency of businesses. According to the Federal Reserve Bank, IT has reduced the rate of inflation by 0.5 to 1% in the last decade. For firms this means IT is a major factor in reducing costs.
It is estimated that IT has increased productivity in the economy by about 1% in the last decade. For firms this means IT is a major source of labor and capital efficiency.
1.6
Create competitive advantage: IT makes it possible to develop competitive advantages. New Business Models: Dell Computer has built its competitive advantage on an IT enabled build-toorder business model that other firms have not been able to imitate.
1.7
Create new services: eBay has developed the largest auction trading platform for millions of individuals and businesses. Competitors have not been able to imitate its success.
Differentiate yourself from your competitors: Amazon has become the largest book retailer in the United States on the strength of its huge online inventory and recommender system. It has no rivals in size and scope.
1.8
Why IT Now? Digital Convergence and the Changing Business Environment Growing impact of IT in business firms can be assessed from the following five factors:
Internet growth and technology convergence Transformation of the business enterprise Growth of a globally connected economy Growth of knowledge and information-based economies Emergence of the digital firm
1.9
The Internet is making many traditional business models obsolete: the corner music store and video store.
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Figure 1-3
Digital firm-All of orgs significant business relationships with customers, suppliers, and employees are digitally enabled Core business processes accomplished using digital networks Agile sensing and responding to environmental changes Seamless flow of information within the firm, and with strategic partners Cisco & Dell computers Digital firms
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Figure 1-4
Business processes:
Refer to the set of logically related tasks & behaviors that organizations develop over time to produce specific business results & the unique manner in which these activities are organized & coordinated.
Eg: Developing a new product, generating & fulfilling order, creating marketing plan, hiring an employee
1.15
What Is an Information System? Technology perspective: A set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization
1.16
What is an Information System? (Continued) Data: Streams of raw facts representing events such as business transactions
Information: data that have been shaped into a form that is meaningful and useful to human beings in the processes such as making decisions
1.17
Raw data from a supermarket checkout counter can be processed and organized to produce meaningful information, such as the total unit sales of dish detergent or the total sales revenue from dish detergent for a specific store or sales territory.
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Figure 1-6
PERSPECTIVES ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS Functions of an Information System I/p captures raw data from within the org. or from its external environment Processing converts raw i/p into a meaningful form O/P transfers the processed information to the users Feedback used to evaluate or correct the i/p stage
1.20
Computer-Based Information System (CBIS) Rely on computer hardware and software Processing and disseminating information Fixed definitions of data and procedures Collecting, storing, and using information
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Figure 1-7
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Figure 1-8
You will need to understand and balance these dimensions of information systems in order to create business value.
1.25
Managers are:
Sense makers Decision makers Planners Roles Senior managers - long term strategic decisions Middle managers - carry out the programs & plans of senior managers Operational managers - monitor the firms daily activities
1.26
The Technology Dimension of Information Systems Information technology is one of the tools managers use to cope with change:
Hardware: Physical equipment Software: Detailed preprogrammed instructions that control h/w components Storage: Physical media for storing data and the software Communications technology: Transfers data from one physical location to another Networks: Links computers to share data or resources
1.28
Source: Based on Erik Brynjolfsson and Lorin M. Hitt, Beyond Computation: Information Technology, Organizational Transformation and Business Performance. Journal of Economic Perspectives 14, no. 4 (Fall 2000). Used with permission of the American Economic Association.
Figure 1-9