Lecture
1
Introduction to Organisations
and Information Systems
(Unit 1)
Organisations
a collection of interacting and
interdependent individuals who
work towards common goals and
whose relationships are determined
according to a common structure"
(Duncan, 1981)
2
An
aspirational
view
Organisation
A general
expression of the
overall purpose
Vision
Mission
Statement
Goals and
Objectives
3
Why do organisations exist?
Organisational theories
Organisational Structure
Objective of the organisational
structure
Means of attaining
objectives and goals
The extent to which,
and the ways in
which, one is
controlled and
5
constrained
New Business Models
Multinational companies
 International organisations
 Virtual global companies

Page 336 of
Turban et al.
Enterprise
6
Multinational companies
Sometimes referred to as a "transnational
corporation".
 A good summary is given at:
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/multinati
onalcorporation.asp
 WiseGEEK discuss different business models
used: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-amultinational-corporation.htm
 Good description is given by bized:
http://www.bized.co.uk/learn/economics/notes/
7
multi.htm

Organisation Structure
Top
management
Chief executive
Senior executive
Middle
management
Department/division heads
Superintendents
Supervisory
management
General foremen
First-line supervisors
8
Buchanan & Huczynski, 1997,
Organisation Culture
What is meant by the term
‘Culture’?
a set of major understandings and
assumptions shared by a group
9
Some Aspects of Culture
(L.Aiman-Smith 2004)
Historical: Culture is social heritage, or
tradition, that is passed on to future
generations
 Behavioural: Culture is shared, learned
human behaviour, a way of life
 Normative: Culture is ideals, values, or
rules for living

10
Functional: Culture is the way people solve
problems of adapting to the environment
and living together
 Mental: Culture is a complex of ideas, or
learned habits, for social control
 Structural: Culture consists of patterned
and interrelated ideas, symbols, or
behaviours
 Symbolic: Culture is based on arbitrarily
assigned meanings that are shared by an
organization

11
Models of Culture

Geert Hofstede – country culture – 5
dimensions
–
Culture’s Consequences (1980) –reprinted in
2001
O’Reilly, Chatman, and Caldwell (1991) –
organisational culture – 7 dimentions
 Two dimensional framework

–
–
internal or external focus
flexibility and individuality or stability and
control.
12
Organisational
Reflects
tension
conflict between
Order &
Stability
Demands of the internal
system and those of the
external environment
4 cultural types
(Boddy et al., 2002)
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Stability and
Control
Flexibility and
Discretion
Internally focused
Externally focused
This type of organization has a sense
of cohesion, with goals that strongly
shared. Inside, the organization may
feel more ‘family like” than ‘business
like.”
Clan Culture – Cameron and Quinn
(1999)
Having Involvement of all employees(Denison, 1990)
The emphasis on being open to change
and oriented to the outside world
characterizes organizations in which
innovation can thrive, indeed sometimes
the innovativeness can run amuck.
Adhocracy Cultures -Cameron and
Quinn (1999)
High Adaptability cultures -(Denison,
1990)
This type of organization often relies
on formal structures, policies and
procedures to keep things running.
Hierarchy Culture - Cameron and
Quinn (1999)
An internal focus is on Consistency (Denison, 1990)
These types of organizations are
concerned about productivity,
consistency, results, the bottom line.
These organizations are very clear
about their customers, and hence can
be termed Market Cultures.
(Denison, 1990) – These
organizations have a sense of
external Mission, combined with
control, that can be very successful.
(L.Aiman-Smith 2004)
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Human
relations
Flexibility
Computer-aided instruction
Interpersonal computing
and conferencing
Group decision supporting
Environmental scanning and filtering
Inter-organisational linking
Doubt and argument promoting
Internal
External
Internal monitoring
Internal controlling
Record keeping
Optimising
Stability
Survival
Modelling
Forecasting
Sensitivity analysing
Order
(Boddy et al., 2002:173)
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Productivity
Environment
Customers
Suppliers
Competitors
Investors
Regulators
Technology
Knowledge
Organisation
IS
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(Adapted from Laudon and Laudon, 2006:78)
Organisations
vision
resources
people
Mission
Controlled
performance
Goals and
objectives
Organisational
behaviour
Structure
Culture
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Announcement
Module Representatives
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System Theory

Developed by Ludwig von Bertalanffy in
1936
“System theory is the transdisciplinary study of
the abstract organization of phenomena,
independent of their substance, type, or spatial or
temporal scale of existence. It investigates both
the principles common to all complex entities, and
the (usually mathematical) models which can be
used to describe them”
19
What is a system?
“A system is an entity which maintains its
existence through the mutual interaction of
its parts”. Ludwig von Bertalanffy
‘A group of interrelated components
working together toward a common goal by
accepting inputs and producing outputs in
an organised transformation process’
(James o’Brien, 2004)
20
System Theory
Organisation
Input from the
environment
Output to the
environment
Production process
Feedback
21
(adapted from Laudon and Laudon, 2006:73)
Emergence
 Anasynthis
(Introduction to Systems Thinking by Gene
Bellinger at http://www.systemsthinking.org/systems/systems.htm )

Open systems Vs Closed systems
Close-coupled systems
22
Capture
Process
Transmit
The Functions of
Information
Technology (IT)
Store/Retrieve
Generate
23
James A. Senn, Page 23
Information systems are the means by
which organisations and people, using
information technologies gather,
process, store, use, and disseminate
information.
(www.ukais.org)
24
Information Systems

A Business IS (BIS) … convert data into
information products that can be used to
support forecasting, planning, control, coordination, decision making and
operational activities in an organisation.
– Bocij et al.
25
(O’Brien, 2004, page 11)
The Components
of an IS
Control of system performance
Input of
data
resources
Processing
data into
information
Output of
information
products
Storage of data resources
Network Resources
Communications media and Network support
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People resources
IS Specialists - People who develop and
operate IS,
e.g. system analysts,
software developers,
system operators
End Users
- anyone who uses the
information systems or
the information it produces,
e.g. customers, salespersons, managers
(O’Brien, 6th Edition, page27
12)
Software resources
all sets of information processing instructions
Programs - System software (operating
system programs),
Application software (spreadsheet
programs, word processing
programs, payroll programs, etc.)
Procedures - data entry procedures,
error correction procedures,
paycheque distribution
procedures, etc.
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Hardware resources
All physical devices and materials used in
information processing
Machines - Computers, video monitors,
magnetic disk drives,
printers, optical scanners,
etc.
Data Media - floppy disks, magnetic tapes,
optical disks, plastic cards,
paper forms, etc.
(O’Brien, 6th Edition, page 12)
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Network resources
Communications media,
Communications processes,
Network access and control software,
etc.
(O’Brien, 6th Edition, page 12)
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Data resources
Product descriptions,
Customer records,
Employee files,
Inventory Databases,
Organisational knowledge bases
External data warehouses, etc.
(O’Brien, 6th Edition, page 12-13)
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 Data
Vs Information
 Application programs Vs IS

IS Vs IT (ICT)
Used To Build
Hardware
Software
Databases
Networks
other related
components
Read Chapter 1 Page 18 ff of Turban et al.
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IS
IT
Application programs
Data
People
Information
Knowledge
Decisions
experience
Actions
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