COMP3115
Information Systems
Session 1: Personal Productivity with Information System Technology
Dr. Paul Walcott
Spring 2007/2008
http://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/staff/eportfolios/paulwalcott/courses/comp3115/
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Session Objectives
Define data, information and knowledge
 Describe the role of information in
organisations
 Identify software for reuse
 Distinguish between different types of
information systems
 Comprehend information literacy

© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Session Objectives Cont’d

Analyse knowledge work productivity
concepts
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Case Study
“The Ritz-Carlton was one of the first hotel
chains to provide its employees with the
information that they needed to make their
clients feel special …The more information
employees have about the guests, the
more they can ensure that visits at the Ritz
meet or exceed their guests’
expectations.”
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Case Study Cont’d
“Does a guest want her bed turned down at
9pm? … Does a guest want a city or garden
view? Hotel employees collect anecdotal
information about guests’ preferences and
record them on cards that the clerical staff keys
into an international guest preference database.
Employees use this information to provide a
more personal level of service (S. Gordon and J.
Gordon 2004).”
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Activity

Would sharing information about
customers’ (staying at hotels) preferences
among competitors in the hotel industry be
embraced in Barbados and the wider
Caribbean?
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Data is “fundamental
facts, figures, observations
and measurement, without
context or organisation”
(S. Gordon and J. Gordon, 2004)
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Information is
“Processed data”
(S. Gordon and J. Gordon, 2004)
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Knowledge is “an
understanding, or model
about people, objects, or
events derived from
information about them”
(S. Gordon and J. Gordon, 2004)
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Role of Information in
Organisations

Information as a resource
 input to the production
 e.g. sales forecasts

of a good or service
Information as an asset
 Contributes
to the company’s output - gives
advantage over the competition


e.g customer preferences
Information as a product
 Company sells information
 e.g. Stock prices data supplier
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Information Systems (IS)
An information system is a combination of
information technology, data, procedures
and people
 Three types of information systems are (S.
Gordon and J. Gordon, 2004):

 Automated
systems
 Transaction processing systems
 Management support systems
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Types of IS

“Automated systems use information
technology to perform tasks or make them
easier or less labour intensive.”
 Example:
automated automobile production
and medical expert systems
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Types of IS Cont’d

Transaction processing systems process
transactions.
 Example:
Online payment system - PayPal
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Types of IS Cont’d

Management support systems “supply
information that managers need to make
decisions and coordinate their activities.”
 Example:
Using a human resource system to
evaluate the performance of an employee to
consider a pay rise
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Information Literacy

Information Literacy - The American Library
Association defines information literacy as a set
of abilities requiring individuals to "recognize
when information is needed and have the ability
to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the
needed information." ALA also states that
"information literacy is a survival skill in the
Information Age."
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Information Literacy

"Information literacy forms the basis for lifelong
learning. It is common to all disciplines, to all
learning environments, and to all levels of
education. It enables learners to master content
and extend their investigations, become more
self-directed, and assume greater control over
their own learning."
http://lib1.bmcc.cuny.edu/help/glossary.html
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Software Reuse

Software reuse is the “The ability to use
software routines over again in new
applications. This is one of the benefits of
object technology.“
http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=software+reuse&i=51700,00.asp
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Software Reuse Cont’d
In reuse-based software engineering
existing software is reused
 Over the last 15 years there has been a
gradual transition to reuse-based
development
 This was prompted by the need to reduce
software costs, produce software more
quickly and improve software quality

© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Software Reuse Cont’d

An entire system or parts of it may be
reused (Sommerville, 2004):
 Application

The entire system is reused
 Component

reuse
Components, e.g sub-systems may be reused
 Object

system reuse
and function reuse
e.g. standard libraries; common over last 45 years
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Software Reuse Cont’d

“A complementary form of reuse is
concept reuse (Sommerville 2004)”
 Instead
of reusing components, more abstract
entities are reused, for example
Design patterns
 Program generators

© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Software Reuse Cont’d

Some of the benefits of reuse are
(Sommerville 2004):
 Increased
dependability
 Reduced process risk

The cost associated with an existing system is
known; for new systems, the cost is based on
judgement
 Accelerated

development
Reduce development and validation time
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Software Reuse Cont’d

Some of the problems of reuse are:
 Increased
maintenance costs (Sommerville 2004)
 Creating and maintaining a component library
(Sommerville 2004)
 Finding, understanding and adapting reusable
components (Sommerville 2004)
 Ensuring the quality and security of the components
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Software Reuse Cont’d

Reusable software is available from:
 Third-party
vendors
 The open source community
 Vendors selling COTS (Commercial off-theshelf systems)
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Activity
Identity sources of reusable
software on the web.
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Knowledge Work Productivity
Concepts
knowledge work is a new form “of employment
that revolve[s] around the dominant role of
science and technology in modern economies
…. This work is said to be distinctively ‘analytic’
and to involve problem-solving and abstract
reasoning. Knowledge work is performed by
knowledge workers …”
http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199253975/01student/glossary/glossary
.htm#K
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
A knowledge worker is …
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
“ … anyone who works for a living
at the tasks of developing or
using knowledge. For example, a
knowledge worker might be
someone who works at any of the
tasks of planning, acquiring …”
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
“… searching, analyzing, organizing,
storing, programming, distributing,
marketing, or otherwise contributing
to the transformation and commerce
of information; and those (often the
same people) who work at using the
knowledge so produced.“
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
This term was “first used by Peter Drucker
in his 1959 book, Landmarks of Tomorrow,
the knowledge worker includes those in
the information technology fields, such as
programmers, systems analysts, technical
writers, academic professionals,
researchers, and so forth.”
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
“This term is also frequently used to
include people outside of information
technology, such as lawyers,
teachers, scientists of all kinds, and
also students of all kinds.”
http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid11_gci212450,00.html
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Knowledge Work Productivity
Concepts Cont’d

A knowledge worker may more simply be
described as any professional who uses
knowledge in their work (Thomas and
Baron, 1994).
 They
are responsible for transforming
information into products
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
So what do knowledge workers do?
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Knowledge Work Productivity
Concepts Cont’d

Taylor (1998) identifies six tasks performed by
knowledge workers:
 Routine
work (e.g. formatting an article)
 Networking, promoting and socialising
 Searching for data needed to create knowledge
 “reinventing the wheel”

When it costs more to search for it
 Creating
original work
 Communicating knowledge
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Knowledge Work Productivity
Concepts Cont’d

There are many common misconceptions
about knowledge work productivity:
 Low
skilled work and low productivity will
disappear

This is true.
 As
the supply and productivity of knowledge
workers increase, the demand for knowledge
workers will increase in pace

This is false
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Knowledge Work Productivity
Concepts Cont’d
 Knowledge
workers spend most of their time
creating new knowledge

This is false
 Meaningful
assessment can be made about
future labour markets based on current
markets

Current statistics are based on the industry
economy, not the knowledge economy, therefore
this is false
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Knowledge Work Productivity
Concepts Cont’d
 An
increase in productivity alone will lead to
income increases for knowledge workers

This is false
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Conclusions

In this session the reader:
 Distinguished
between data, information and
knowledge
 Defined information system
 Differentiated between different types of
information systems
 Defined information literacy
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
Conclusions
 Recognised
the benefits and problems
associated with software reuse
 Analysed knowledge work productivity
concepts
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus
References
Gordon, Steven, R. and Judith R. Gordon. 2004. Information Systems:
A Management Approach. 3rd Edition, Wiley.
Sommerville, Ian. 2004. Software Engineering. 7th ed. USA: Addison
Wesley
Taylor, Kit, S. 1998. The Brief Reign of the Knowledge Worker:
Information Technology and Technological Unemployment. Paper
presented at the International Conference on the Social Impact of
Information Technologies, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
Thomas, Beverly, E. and John, P. Baron. 1994. Evaluating Knowledge
Worker Productivity: Literature Review. USACERL Interim Report
FF-94/27.Faculity Management Division of the Infrastructure
Laboratory, U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research
Laboratories.
© 2008 Dr. Paul Walcott – The University of the West Indies: Cave Hill Campus