Information systems is an academic discipline of the complementary networks of hardware, software, users and business processes that organizations use to collect, filter, process, create and distribute data. Any specific information system aims to support planning, operations, management and decision making. Contemporary approaches to understanding the domain of Information Systems interfaces a multi-disciplinary perspective. Essentially, in this lens, the usage of information technology is viewed through the lens of people, process and technology. So what is exactly meant when we talk about the nuances of analysis from the perspective of people, process and technology?  Some researchers of the domain clearly demarcate between information systems, computer systems (or the discipline of Information Technology), and business processes (Denoted by functions, workflows and routines from an Operations Management perspective). Information systems typically include an ICT component but are not purely concerned with ICT, focusing instead on the end use of information technology. Information systems are also different from business processes as it interfaces with the same and help to control the performance of business processes. To this effect, the three inter-disciplinary focus are very different and yet converge to create the unique discipline of Information Systems. At a multi-disciplinary level, different theories are utilized to explore the different challenges within this domain. For example, theories of consumer behavior may be drawn from Marketing Management, while theories may also be drawn from Sociology and Psycology to understand the different ways and outcomes when people engage and interact with information systems to achieve any desirable (or not so desirable) outcome. Further theories of operations management, operations research and management science may be explored extensively to developed decision support systems and model the business processes effectively while adopting information systems, entirely from scratch or even to improve upon the existing systems. Again theories of economics may be used to explore the trade-offs of decision making associated with the use of information systems in different context. One such area could be the exploration of how information technology affects the buyer supplier network structure (or even the markets and hierarchies) after its adoption by the different stake-holders. Similarly, how information assimilation affects the dynamics of competition and markets is an interesting domain which has been explored in information systems literature. Again, in these emerging days of Web 2.0 and Social Media, how ICTs facilitate the sharing of information (through viral Facebook and Twitter messages) and subsequently affect the society and polity, would cut through disciplines like consumer behavior, sociology and political science. Essentially, while some limited version may look at Information systems as a perspective of a machine consuming some raw inputs (raw data) and converting it into an useful output (meaningful information or even knowledge), the discipline entails so much more from the perspective of different actors. Indeed we are witnessing an information era where information is transcending the way organizations, its human stake-holders and its internal “business rules” are being marshaled by the information and communication technologies. Now how it affects the finer print of the social, organizational and political entities is something to analyze while approaching the domain.
How are information systems transforming business, and what is their relationship to globalization?
E-mail, online conferencing, smartphones, and tablet computers have become essential tools for conducting business. Information systems are the foundation of fast-paced supply chains. The Internet allows many businesses to buy, sell, advertise, and solicit customer feedback online. Organizations are trying to become more competitive and efficient by digitally enabling their core business processes and evolving into digital firms. The internet has stimulated globalization by dramatically reducing the costs of producing, buying, and selling goods on a global scale. New information system trends include the emerging mobile digital platform, online software as a service, and cloud computing.
Why are information systems so essential for running and managing a business today?
Information systems are a foundation for conducting business today. In many industries, survival and the ability to achieve strategic business goals are difficult without extensive use of information technology. Businesses today use information systems to achieve six major objectives: operational excellence; new products, services, and business models; customer/supplier intimacy; improved decision making; competitive advantage; and day-to-day survival.
What exactly is an information system? How does it work? What are the management, organization, and technology components of an information system?
From a technical perspective, an information system collects, stores, and disseminates information from an organization's environment and internal operations to support organizational functions and decision making, communication, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization. Information systems transform raw data into useful information through three basic activities: input, processing, and output.
What are complementary assets? Why are complementary assets essential for ensuring that information systems provide genuine value for an organization?
In order to obtain meaningful value from information systems, organizations must support their technology investments with appropriate complementary investments in organizations and management. These complementary assets include new business models and business processes, supportive organizational culture and management behavior, appropriate technology standards, regulations, and laws. New information technology investments are unlikely to produce high returns unless businesses make the appropriate managerial and organizational changes to support the technology.
What academic disciplines are used to study information systems? How does each academic discipline contribute to an understanding of information systems? What is a sociotechnical systems perspective?
The study of information systems deals with issues and insights contributed from technical and behavioral disciplines. The disciplines that contribute to the technical approach focusing on formal models and capabilities of systems are computer science, management science, and operations research. The disciplines contributing to the behavioral approach focusing on the design, implementation, management, and business impact of systems are psychology, sociology, and economics. A sociotechnical view of systems considers both technical and social features of systems and solutions that represent the best fit between them.
Specialized tasks performed in a business organization, including manufacturing and production, sales and marketing, finance and accounting, and human resources.
An abstraction of what an enterprise is and how the enterprise delivers a product or service, showing how the enterprise creates wealth.
Refer to the set of logically related tasks and behaviors that organizations develop over time to produce specific business results and the unique manner in which these activities are organized and coordinated.
Additional assets required to derive value from a primary investment.
Physical equipment used for input, processing, and output activities in an information system.
Knowledge about information technology, focusing on understanding of how computer-based technologies work.
Detailed, preprogrammed instructions that control and coordinate the work of computer hardware components in an information system.
The set of fundamental assumptions about what products the organization should produce, how and where it should produce them, and for whom they should be produced.
Streams of raw facts representing events occurring in organizations or the physical environment before they have been organized and arranged into a form that people can understand and use.
Data Management Technology
Software governing the organization of data on physical storage media.
People such as secretaries or bookkeepers who process the organization's paperwork.
A firm in which nearly all of the organization's significant business relations with customers, suppliers, and employees are digitally enabled and mediated. Core business processes are accomplished through digital networks spanning the entire organization or linking multiple organizations.
Private intranet that is accessible to authorized outsiders.
Output that is returned to the appropriate members of the organization to help them evaluate or correct input.
Data that have been shaped into a form that is meaningful and useful to human beings.
Networking and Telecommunications Technology
Physical devices and software that link various computer hardware components and transfer data from one physical location to another.
People who monitor the day-to-day activities of the organization.
Interrelated components working together to collect, process, store, and disseminate information to support decision making, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization in an organization.
Organizational and Management Capital
Investments in organization and management such as new business processes, management behavior, organizational culture, or training.
The distribution of processed information to the people who will use it or to the activities for which it will be used.
The conversion, manipulation, and analysis of raw input into a form that is more meaningful to humans.
Production or Service Workers
People who actually produce the products or services of the organization.
People occupying the topmost hierarchy in an organization who are responsible for making long-range decisions.
Seeing systems as composed of both technical and social elements.
A system with universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information in a networked environment.
Business Processes Examples
Developing a new product, generating and fulfilling an order, creating a marketing plan, and hiring an employee. The ways organizations accomplish their business processes can be a source of competitive strength.
Information Systems Literacy
Broad-based understanding of information systems that includes behavioral knowledge about organizations and individuals using information systems as well as technical knowledge about computers.
Information Technology (IT)
All the hardware and software technologies a firm needs to achieve its business objectives.
Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure
Computer hardware, software, data, storage technology, and networks providing, a portfolio or shared IT resources for the organization.
The capture or collection of raw data from within the organization or from its external environment for processing in an information system.
Global network of networks using universal standards to connect millions of different networks.
An internal network based on Internet and World Wide Web technology and standards.
People such as engineers or architects who design products or services and create knowledge for the organization.
Management Information Systems (MIS)
Specific category of information system providing reports on organizational performance to help middle management monitor and control the business.
People in the middle of the organizational hierarchy who are responsible for carrying out the plans and goals of senior management.
The linking of two or more computers to share data or resources, such as a printer. |
What academic disciplines are used to study information systems How does each academic discipline contribute to an understanding of information systems?
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