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Chapter 1
THE INFORMATION AGE IN
WHICH YOU LIVE
Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Presentation Overview

Today’s Economic Environment
 Information as a Key Resource
 People as a Key Resource
 Information Technology as a Key
Resource
 Roles and Goals of Information
Technology
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Opening Case Study
Can Technology Catch You Having An Affair?
 Technology is pervasive, and often invasive.
 How can technology be inadvertently used for “good” and “bad” purposes?
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Introduction
 Information age – a time when knowledge is power.
 Knowledge worker – works with and produces information as a product.
 Outnumber all other types of workers by a
4-to-1 margin.
Management Information Systems for the Information Age
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Introduction
 Management information systems
(MIS) – deals with the planning for, development, management, and use of information technology tools to help people perform all tasks related to information processing and management.
Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Today’s Economic Environment

To be successful in today’s economic environment, you must:
 Know your competition.
 Know your customers.
 Work closely with your business partners.
 Know your organization inside and out.
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Today’s Economic Environment
The E.conomy
 Electronic commerce – is commerce, but it is commerce accelerated and enhanced by information technology.
 Telecommuting – the use of communications technologies to work in a place other than a central location.
 Virtual Workplace – a technology-enabled workplace. No boundaries.
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Today’s Economic
Environment
The E.conomy
Percentage of Sites that Plan to Add Telecommuting
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Today’s Economic Environment
The “Now” Economy
 Characterized by the immediate access customers have to the ordering of products and services.
 An ATM is an example of a product in the
“now” economy.
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Today’s Economic Environment
The “Now” Economy
 M-commerce – electronic commerce conducted over a wireless device such as a cell phone or personal digital assistant.
Team Work
I Want It!
(p. 7)
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Today’s Economic Environment
The Global Economy
 Global economy – one in which customers, businesses, suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers all operate without regard to physical and geographical boundaries.
 Transnational firms – produce and sell products and services in countries all over the world.
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Today’s Economic
Environment
The Global Economy
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Today’s Economic Environment
The Arriving Digital Economy
 Digital economy – marked by the electronic movement of all types of information including physiological information such as:
 Voice recognition
 Speech synthesization
 Biometrics
 Holograms
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Information as a Key Resource
 Information is one of the key components of management information systems.

We are in the “information” age, a time when knowledge is power.
 Knowledge comes from information.
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Information as a Key Resource
Data Versus Information
 Data – raw facts that describe a particular phenomenon.
 Information – data that have a particular meaning within a specific context.
Management Information Systems for the Information Age
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
Information as a Key
Resource
Personal Dimensions of Information
The three personal dimensions of information include:
 Time
 Location
 Form
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Information as a Key Resource
Personal Dimensions of Information



Time dimension
When you need it.
Specific time period.


Location dimension
No matter where you are.



Form dimension
Useable and understandable.
Free of errors.
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Information as a Key
Resource
Organizational Dimensions of
Information
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Information as a Key Resource
Organizational Dimensions of Information
 Strategic management – provides overall direction and guidance.
 Tactical management – develops the goals and strategies.
 Operational management – manages and directs the day-to-day operations.
 Nonmanagement employees – perform daily activities.
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Information as a Key Resource
Organizational Dimensions of Information
 The four flows of information include:
 Upward – describes the current state of the organization based on its daily transactions.
 Downward – consists of the strategies, goals, and directives that originate at one level and are passed to lower levels.
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Information as a Key Resource
Organizational Dimensions of Information
 Information flows continued
 Horizontal – between functional business units and work teams.
 Outward – information that is communicated to customers, suppliers, distributors, and other partners for the purpose of doing business.
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
Information as a Key
Resource
Organizational Dimensions of
Information
Information granularity – refers to the extent of detail within the information.
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Information as a Key Resource
Organizational Dimensions of Information
 What the information describes can include:




Internal information – specific operational aspects of the organization.
External information – the environment surrounding the organization.
Objective information – something that is known.
Subjective information – something that is unknown.
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People as a Key Resource
Information and Technology Literacy
 The single most important resource in any organization is its people.
 Technology-literate knowledge worker
– a person who knows how and when to apply technology.
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People as a Key Resource
Information and Technology Literacy
 Information-literate knowledge workers :
 Define what information they need.
 Know how and where to obtain information.
 Understand the information.
 Act appropriately based on the information to help the organization achieve the greatest advantage.
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People as a Key Resource
Your Ethical Responsibilities
 Ethics – the principals and standards that guide our behavior toward other people.
 Ethics are different from laws as they are a matter of personal interpretation.
 Ethics have a right and wrong outcome according to different people.
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

People as a Key Resource
Your Ethical Responsibilities
 Hacker – very knowledgeable computer user who uses his or her knowledge to invade other people’s computers.
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People as a Key Resource
Your Ethical Responsibilities
On Your Own
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E-Mail: Electronic Mail or Expensive Mail?
(p. 16)
Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Information Technology as a
Key Resource
 Information technology – any computer-based tool that people use to work with information and support the information and informationprocessing needs of an organization. Made up of:


Hardware – physical devices that make up a computer.
Software – set of instructions that the hardware executes to carry out a specific task.
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IT as a Key Resource
Key Technology Categories
 Hardware categories
 Input devices
 Output devices
 Storage devices
 Central processing unit
 Random access memory
 Telecommunications devices
 Connecting devices
On Your Own
Identifying
Hardware
And Software
(p. 19)
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IT as a Key Resource
Key Technology Categories
 Software categories
 Application software
 Operating system software
 Utility software
(See Figure 1.6 on page 18 for a complete overview of software categories.)
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IT as a Key Resource
Decentralized Computing and Shared
Information
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

IT as a Key Resource
Decentralized Computing and Shared
Information
 Decentralized computing – environment in which an organization splits computing power and locates it in functional business areas and on knowledge workers’ desktops.
 Shared information – environment in which an organization’s information is organized in one central location.
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Roles and Goals of
Information Technology
3.
4.
1.
2.
5.
6.
Increase employee productivity
Enhance decision making
Improve team collaboration
Create business partnerships and alliances
Enable global reach
Facilitate organizational transformation
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Roles and Goals of IT
1 - Increase Employee Productivity
 Online transaction processing (OLTP) – the gathering of input information, processing that information, and updating existing information to reflect the gathered and processed information.
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Roles and Goals of IT
1 - Increase Employee Productivity
 Transaction processing system (TPS) – processes transactions that occur within an organization.
 Customer-integrated system (CIS) – An extension of a TPS that places technology in the hands of an organization’s customers and allows them to process their own transactions.
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Roles and Goals of IT
1 - Increase Employee Productivity
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Roles and Goals of IT
2 - Enhance Decision Making
 Online analytical processing (OLAP) – the manipulation of information to support decision making.
 Artificial intelligence – the science of making machines imitate human thinking and behavior.
 Neural network – an artificial intelligence that is capable of finding and differentiating patterns.
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Roles and Goals of IT
2 - Enhance Decision Making
 Executive information system (EIS) – a highly interactive IT system that allows you to first view highly summarized information and then choose how you would like to see greater detail, which may alert you to potential problems or opportunities.
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Roles and Goals of IT
3 - Improve Team Collaboration
 Collaboration system – designed specifically to improve the performance of teams by supporting the sharing and flow of information.
 Groupware – software components that supports the collaborative efforts of a team.
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Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Roles and Goals of IT
3 - Improve Team Collaboration
 Groupware contains support for:
 Team dynamics
 Document management
• Group document database – acts as a powerful storage facility for organizing and managing all documents related to specific teams.
 Applications development
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
Roles and Goals of IT
4 - Create Business Partnerships and
Alliances
Team Work
Interorganizational system (IOS) – automates the flow of information between organizations to support the planning, design, development, production, and delivery of products and services.
Finding Business
Partners and
Alliances on
The Web
(p. 26)
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Roles and Goals of IT
4 - Create Business Partnerships and
Alliances
 Electronic data interchange (EDI) – the direct computer-to-computer transfer of transaction information contained in standard business documents, such as invoices and purchase orders, in a standard format.
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Roles and Goals of IT
5 - Enable Global Reach
 Business today is global business.
 Culture – the collective personality of a nation or society, encompassing language, traditions, currency, religion, history, music, and acceptable behavior, among other things.
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Roles and Goals of IT
6 - Facilitate Organizational
Transformation
 Organizational transformation is necessary to respond to the ever-changing needs
(and wants) of today’s marketplace.
 Blockbuster now provides movies on a pay-per-view rental basis through cable.
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Closing Case Study One
You and Your Information
 Information travels with you and is captured and stored by a number of organizations.
 Trust and accuracy of information is important.
 Do you trust organizations to maintain accurate information about you?
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Closing Case Study Two
How Much of Your Personal Information
Do You Want Businesses to Know?
 Businesses need information about you to provide the best possible products and services.
 How much of your information do you want others to be able to access?
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Summary
Student Learning Outcomes
1.
2.
3.
4.
Describe the information age and the role of knowledge workers within it.
Define management information systems
(MIS).
Describe key factors shaping today’s economic environment.
Validate information as a key resource and describe both personal and organizational dimensions of information.
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Summary
Student Learning Outcomes
5.
6.
7.
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Define how people are the most important organizational resource, their information and technology literacy challenges, and their ethical responsibilities.
Describe the important characteristics of information technology (IT) as a key organizational resource.
List and describe the six roles and goals of information technology in any organization.
Management Information Systems for the Information Age

Summary
Assignments & Exercises
4.
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
Surveying the global economy
Finding trust in TRUSTe
Reporting on Internet statistics by business sector
Learning about an MIS major
Reviewing the 100 best companies to work for
Redefining business operations through IT innovation
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Visit the Web to Learn More www.mhhe.com/haag
 Job databases
 Electronic resumes
 Searching newspapers for job ads
 Locating internships
 Interviewing and negotiating tips
 Organization sites and job postings
 Employment opportunities with the government
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