Week 1:
MIS 5001: Management Information Systems
David S. McGettigan
Adapted from material by Arnold Kurtz, David Schuff, and Paul Weinberg
Agenda
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Introductions
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IT Fundamentals
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IT History
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Gaining Competitive Advantage from IT
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Next Week
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Introductions
Introductions
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Contact Information
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Email (preferred):
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Work Phone (urgent issues only):
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david.mcgettigan@temple.edu
484-865-4418
Work Experience
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Pfizer
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals
Exxon Mobil Corporation
DuPont Corporation
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Syllabus
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Tentative Schedule
Assignments and Weighting
Grading Expectations
Code of Conduct
Class Guidelines
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Goals of This Class
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Survey of MIS concepts
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Primary goal…to understand the role of IT:
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The role of technology in solving business problems
The role of technology in supporting the organization
The transformative nature of technology
Secondary goal…to understand the “stuff”:
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The basics of a technology infrastructure
A vocabulary of technology terms and ideas
To be able to interact with technology professionals
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Fundamentals
What is a System?
• A set of interacting components that operate
together to accomplish a purpose
INPUT
PROCESS
OUTPUT
FEEDBACK
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What is an Information System?
IF SSNO <> 9 Char THEN
Error
END IF
Hardware
Software
Networking
People
Data
Business
Processes
A set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve),
process, store, and distribute information to support decision
making and control in an organization
Source: Laudon, K., & Laudon, J. Management Information Systems. 8/e
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What is a Computer-Based Information
System (CBIS)?
A combination of computers and people that is
used to provide information to aid in making
decisions and managing a firm
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Rely on computer hardware and software
Processing and disseminating information
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Why are CBISs Important?
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Affect all areas of business
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Manufacturing
Accounting & Finance
Human resources
Marketing
Top management
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Data, Information and Intelligence
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Data: Stream of raw facts representing events
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Information: Clusters of facts that are meaningful
and useful to human beings in processes such as
decision-making
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For example, a business transaction
For example, retail product placement
Information is data that has been put into a
meaningful and useful context
Intelligence is information that provides competitive
advantage
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History
Men make history, and not the other way around. In
periods where there is no leadership, society stands still.
Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize
the opportunity to change things for the better.
Harry S. Truman (1884 - 1972)
MIS is a Relatively New Discipline
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Started in the mid–1960’s
Terminology still being codified
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What are the distinctions among these terms
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Management Information Systems (MIS)
Information Technology (IT)
Information Systems (IS)
Office systems
Even the term MIS is fuzzy
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narrowly (such as a type of CBIS) or
broadly (as in “MIS Department”)
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Role of MIS
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Role of MIS
Accounting Finance
Sales
Human
Resources
Production
MIS is the “glue” that ties
businesses together…
…and uses the technology that
makes business work.
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Historic View of IS
TIME PERIOD
INFORMATION SYSTEM
PURPOSE
1950-1960
TRANSACTION PROCESSING SYSTEM
(TPS)
SPEED ACCOUNTING & PAPER
PROCESSING
1960s1970s
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
SYSTEMS (MIS)
SPEED AND IMPROVE GENERAL
REPORTING
1970s1980s
DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS (DSS),
EXECUTIVE SUPPORT SYSTEMS
IMPROVE DECISION MAKING
AND CONTROL
1990s
COLLABORATIVE SYSTEMS,
VISUALIZATION, KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT,…
CREATE KNOWLEDGE AND
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
1998 - ?
E-BUSINESS SYSTEMS
ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS
SURVIVAL OF THE
ORGANIZATION
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How would you categorize the current decade?
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Transformation of the Business Enterprise
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Flattening
Decentralization
Flexibility
Location independence
Transaction and coordination
cost pressure
Collaborative work and
teamwork
What do all of
these things have
in common and
what does
technology have
to do with it?
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Emergence of the “digital firm”
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Digitally-enabled relationships with
customers, suppliers, and employees
Core business processes accomplished via
digital networks
Digital management of key corporate assets
Rapid and automated sensing and
responding to environmental changes
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Gaining Competitive
Advantage from IT
How Can IT Impact the Bottom Line?
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There’s really only two things:
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Reduce Costs
Increase profit
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Increase Revenue
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Everything else relates to one of these
two things
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Competitive Advantage From IT
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Barriers to Entry
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Distribution Channels
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Additional costs of creating an information
system.
Prevent others from entering the industry.
Switching Costs
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Consumers incur learning and data transfer
costs
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Competitive Advantage From IT
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Lower Production Costs
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Product Differentiation
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Add new features or create new products with IT
Quality Management
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IT to cut costs
Monitoring production lines and analyzing data
Value Chain
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Expanding forward or back the value chain to find
greater profits
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Search for Innovation: Marketing
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Frequent buyer databases
Point-of-Sale and trends
Statistical analysis of data
Geographic Information Systems
Links to external marketing agencies
Multimedia development of promotions
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Search for Innovation:
Sales and Order Entry
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Sales force automation, hand-held computers
Customer workstation access
Expert Systems for
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Front-line support
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product and option selection
configuration and shipping
expert systems, e-mail, work groups
CRM
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shared data with Customer Service
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Search for Innovation:
Post Sale Service
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Portable computers for service anywhere
Databases (e.g., customer service)
Location monitoring of service personnel
Product internal, automatic diagnostics
Expert Systems
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diagnostic tools
CRM
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Shared data with Sales
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Search for Innovation: Manufacturing
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Links to customers
Links to suppliers
Mass customization
Robotics
Diagnostic Expert Systems
Quality monitoring and control
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Search for Innovation:
Logistics and Supply
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Just-In-Time Inventory and EDI
Configuration and design
Searching for availability, pricing,
networks, et al.
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IT Strategy Should Address
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Infrastructure
Applications
Service Level Targets or Agreements
Human Resources (skills, recruitment and
retention strategies, et al.).
Processes
Organizational Structure
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Next Class:
Week #2
Case Study: Google Inc.
Porter Five Forces Analysis
Value Chain