Management Information
Systems - Class Note # 1
Prof. Yuan-Shyi Peter Chiu
Feb. 2012
1
Chapter 1
Managing the Digital Firm

1.1 Why Information Systems？

1.2 Contemporary Approaches to
Information System

1.3 Toward the Digital Firm:
The New Role of Information Systems in
Organizations

1.4 Learning to Use Information Systems:
New Opportunities with Technology
2
1.1 Why Information Systems
Four powerful worldwide changes have
altered the business environment：

Emergence of the Global Economy

Transformation of Industrial Economies

Transformation of the Business Enterprise

The Emerging Digital Firm
3
1.1 Why Information Systems
 Globalization

Management & control in a global marketplace

Competition in world markets

Global work groups

Global delivery systems
4
1.1 Why Information Systems
 Transformation of Industrial Economies

Knowledge- and information-based economies

New products and services

Knowledge：A central productive and strategic asset

Time-based competition
Shorter product life



Turbulent environment
Limited employee knowledge base
5
Fig 1-1: The growth of the information economy
6
1.1 Why Information Systems
 Transformation of the Enterprise







Flattening
Decentralization
Flexibility
Location Independence
Low Transaction & Coordination Costs
Empowerment
Collaborative work and teamwork
7
1.1 Why Information Systems
 Emergence of the Digital Firm

Digitally enabled relationships with customers,
suppliers, and employees

Core business processes accomplished via
digital networks

Digital management of key corporate assets

Rapid sensing and responding to environmental
changes
8
1.1 Why Information Systems

Emergence of the Global Economy

Transformation of Industrial Economies

Transformation of the Business Enterprise

The Emerging Digital Firm
9
Fig 1-3: Function of an information system
10
Using information system effectively requires an
understanding of the Organization , Management ,
Information Technology
Fig 1-4
11
Organization

People

Structure

Operating procedures

Politics

Culture
◆
12
Major Organizational Functions

Sales & Marketing

Manufacturing

Finance

Accounting

Human Resources
13
Major Organizational Functions
14
Management

set the organizational strategy

allocate the financial resources

allocate the human resources

coordinate the work

leadership

create new products or new services

re-create organization from time to time
15
Technology

tools to managers

glue that holds the organization together

Computer hardware

Computer software

Storage technology

Telecommunications technology

Information technology Infrastructure
16
1.2 Contemporary Approaches to
Information Systems


Technical approach
Behavioral approach
17
Fig 1-5: Contemporary approaches to information
system.
18
Technical approach
 Computer science



Theories of computability
Methods of computation
Methods of efficient data storage and
access
 Management science


Models for decision making
Management practices
19
Technical approach
 Operations research

Mathematical techniques for optimizing
selected parameters of organizations,
such as transportation, inventory control,
etc.
20
Behavioral Approach
 Development of systems
 System affect individual, groups,
and organization.

Sociology

Psychology  How human decision makers perceive
and use formal information .

Economics  Impacts to firm and within markets
－ on control
－ cost structures
21
Socio-Technical Systems
Figure 1-6
SOURCE: Liker, et al, 1987
22
Socio-Technical Systems
Optimize systems performance:

Technology and organization

Organizations mutually adjust to one another
until fit is satisfactory
◆
23
1.3 Toward the Digital Firm:
The New Role of I.S. in Organizations

The widening scope of I.S.

The network revolution and the internet

New options for organizational design:
The Digital Firm and the Collaborative Enterprise

The Digital Firm:
E-commerce, E-business, and New Digital
Relationships
▲2
24
1.3.1 The widening scope of I.S.
Fig 1-7: The interdependence between
organizations and information systems
25
1.3.1 The widening scope of I.S.
Fig 1-8: The widening scope of information systems .
26
Information Systems

It affects the organization and its employees, and how
they can make business more competitive and
efficient .

It has become essential for creating competitive firms,
managing global corporations, and providing useful
products and services to customers.
27
1.3.2 The network revolution and the internet
What you can do on the internet?

Communicate & collaborate

Access information

Participate in discussions

Supply information

Find entertainment

Exchange business transactions
28
29
1.3.2 The network revolution and the internet
INTERNET

International network of networks that is a
collection of hundreds of thousands of private
and public networks.
World Wide Web (WWW)

A system with universally accepted standards
for storing, retrieving, formatting, and
displaying information in a networked
environment.
30
1.3.3 New Options for Organizational Design
The Digital Firm and the Collaborative Enterprise

Flattening Organizations and the Changing
Management Processes

Separating Work from Location

Reorganizing Work Flows

Increasing Flexibility of Organizations

Redefining Organizational Boundaries
▲1
31
1.3.3 New Options for Organizational Design
Flattening Organizations Information Systems
Figure 1-9
32
1.3.3 New Options for Organizational Design
Redesigned Work Flow For Insurance Underwriting
Figure 1-10
33
1.3.4 The Digital Firm
E-commerce, E-business, and New Digital
Relationships
Electronic market

A marketplace that is created by computer
and communication technologies that link
many buyers and sellers .
34
1.3.4 The Digital Firm
Electronic Commerce

The process of buying and selling goods and
services electronically involving transactions
using the internet, networks, and other digital
technologies.

Internet Links Buyers, Sellers

Lower Transaction Costs

Goods & Services Advertised, Bought, Exchanged
Worldwide

Business-to-Business Transactions Increasing
35
1.3.4 The Digital Firm
Intranet

An internal network based on Internet and
World Wide Web technology and standards.
Electronic Business

The use of the Internet and other digital
technology for organizational communication
and coordination and the management of the
firm.
36
Figure 1-11
37
1.4 Learning to Use Information Systems:
New Opportunities with Technology
Challenge of Information Systems:
Key Management Issues





Strategic: competitive & effective
Globalization: multinational info
Info architecture: support goals
Investment: value of information
Responsibility & control: ethics
38
Figure 1-12
Information Architecture and Information Technology Infrastructure
39
HOMEWORK Chap. 1
#1 Describe four trends in the global business environment
that have made information systems so important.
#2 What are the organization, management, and technology
dimensions of information systems?
#3 Name and describe major organizational functions.
#4 Distinguish major disciplines of the behavior and the
technical approach to information systems.
#5 Describe briefly what information systems are.
#6 Describe some of the major changes that information
systems are bringing to organizations.
#7 Define E-Commerce, E-Business, and Intranet.
#8 What are the key management challenges involved in
building, operating, and maintaining information systems
today?
~ THE END ~
40