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CHAPTER 1: AN INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS!
The value of information is directly linked to how it helps decision makers achieve the organization’s goals. Information systems are used in almost every imaginable career area. Regardless of your college major or chosen career, you will find that information systems are indispensable tools to help you achieve your career goals. Learning about information systems can help you get your first job, earn promotions, and advance your career. Data consists of raw facts; information is data transformed into a meaningful form. The process of defining relationships among data requires knowledge. Knowledge is an awareness and understanding of a set of information and the way that information can support a specific task. To be valuable, information must have several characteristics: It should be accurate, complete, economical to produce, flexible, reliable, relevant, simple to understand, timely, verifiable, accessible, and secure. The value of information is directly linked to how it helps people achieve their organization’s goals. Computers and information systems are constantly making it possible for organizations to improve the way they conduct business. A system is a set of elements that interact to accomplish a goal or set of objectives. The components of a system include inputs, processing mechanisms, and outputs. A system uses feedback to monitor and control its operation to make sure that it continues to meet its goals and objectives. System performance is measured by its efficiency and effectiveness. Efficiency is a measure of what is produced divided by what is consumed; effectiveness measures the extent to which a system achieves its goals. A systems performance standard is a specific objective. Knowing the potential impact of information systems and having the ability to put this knowledge to work can result in a successful personal career and organizations that reach their goals. Information systems are sets of interrelated elements that collect (input), manipulate and store (process), and disseminate (output) data and information. Input is the activity of capturing and gathering new data, processing involves converting or transforming data into useful outputs, and output involves producing useful information.
Feedback is the output that is used to make adjustments or changes to input or processing activities. The components of a computer-based information system (CBIS) include hardware, software, databases, telecommunications and the Internet, people, and procedures. The types of CBISs that organizations use can be classified into four basic groups: (1) e-commerce and m-commerce, (2) TPS and ERP systems, (3) MIS and DSS, and (4) specialized business information systems. The key to understanding these types of systems begins with learning their fundamentals. E-commerce involves any business transaction executed electronically between parties such as companies (businessto-business), companies and consumers (business-toconsumer), business and the public sector, and consumers and the public sector. The major volume of e-commerce and its fastest-growing segment is business-to-business transactions that make purchasing easier for big corporations. E-commerce also offers opportunities for small businesses to market and sell at a low cost worldwide, thus allowing them to enter the global market right from start- up. M-commerce involves anytime, anywhere computing that relies on wireless networks and systems. The most fundamental system is the transaction processing system (TPS). A transaction is any business-related exchange. The TPS handles the large volume of business transactions that occur daily within an organization. An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is a set of integrated programs that can manage the vital business operations for an entire multisite, global organization. A management information system (MIS) uses the information from a TPS to generate information useful for management decision making. A decision support system (DSS) is an organized collection of people, procedures, databases, and devices that help make problem-specific decisions. A DSS differs from an MIS in the support given to users, the emphasis on decisions, the development and approach, and the system components, speed, and output. Specialized business information systems include knowledge management, artificial intelligence, expert, and virtual reality systems. Knowledge management systems are organized collections of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices used to create, store, share, and use the organization’s knowledge and experience. Artificial intelligence (AI) includes a wide range of systems in which the computer takes on the characteristics of human intelligence. Robotics is an area of artificial intelligence in which machines perform complex, dangerous, routine, or boring tasks, such as welding car frames or assembling computer systems and components. Vision systems allow robots and other devices to have “sight” and to
knowledge of how data and information are used by individuals, groups, and organizations. Today, information systems are used in all the functional areas of business, including accounting, finance, sales, marketing, manufacturing, human resource management, and legal information systems. Information systems are also used in every industry, such as airlines, investment firms, banks, transportation companies, publishing companies, healthcare, retail, power management, professional services, and more. Changes in society as a result of increased international trade and cultural exchange, often called globalization, have always had a significant impact on organizations and their information systems. In his book, The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman describes three eras of globalization, spanning the globalization of countries to the globalization of multinational corporations and individuals. Today, people in remote areas can use the Internet to compete with and contribute to other people, the largest corporations, and entire countries. People and companies can get products and services from around the world, instead of around the corner or across town. These opportunities, however, introduce numerous obstacles and issues, including challenges involving culture, language, and many others
