Foundation Concepts: Information Systems and Technologies

WHY INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARE IMPORTANT

An understanding of the effective and responsible use and management of information systems is important for managers and other business knowledge workers in today’s global information society.  Information systems and technologies have become a vital component of successful businesses and organizations.  Information systems constitute an essential field of study in business administration and management, as they are considered a major functional area in business operations.

THE REAL WORLD OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Analysing BellSouth Corp.

We can learn a lot about the importance of information technology and information systems from this case.  Take a few minutes to read it, and we will discuss it (See BellSouth Corporation:  The Business Payback of Information Technology in Section IX).

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Managerial end users need to know how information systems can be employed successfully in a business environment.  The important question for any business end user or manager is: What do you need to know in order to help manage the hardware, software, data, and network resources of your business, so they are used for the strategic success of your company?

An IS Framework for Business Professionals:

Managers or business professionals are not required to know the complex technologies, abstract behavioral concepts, or the specialized applications involved in the field of information systems. It illustrates a useful conceptual framework that outlines what a manager or business professional needs to know about information systems.  It emphasizes five areas of knowledge:

·         Foundation Concepts

·         Information Technologies

·         Business Applications

·         Development Processes

·         Management Challenges

What is an Information System? 

An information system (IS) can be any organized combination of people, hardware, software, communications networks, and data resources that collect, transforms, and disseminate information in an organization.

Information Technologies:

Business professionals rely on many types of information systems that use a variety of information technologies.   For example:

Types of IS           - Manual (paper-and-pencil) information systems

                                - Informal (word-of-mouth) information systems

                                - Formal (written procedures) information systems

                                - Computer-based information systems

Computer-based information systems (IS) use hardware, software, the Internet, and other telecommunications networks, computer-based data resource management techniques, and other forms of information technologies  (IT) to transform data resources into a variety of information products for consumers and business professionals. 

 

 

SYSTEM CONCEPTS - A FOUNDATION

System concepts underlie the field of information systems.  Understanding system concepts will help you understand many other concepts in the technology, applications, development, and management of information systems. System concepts help you understand:

·         Technology.  That computer networks are systems of information processing components that uses a variety of hardware, software, data and telecommunication technologies.

·         Applications.  That electronic business and commerce involves interconnected business information systems.

·         Development.  That developing ways to use information technology n business includes designing the basic components of information systems.

·         Management.  That managing information technology emphasizes the quality, strategic business value, and security of an organization’s information systems.

What is a System?

Question:       What is a system as it applies to the concept of an information system?

Answer:         A system is a group of interrelated components working together toward a common goal by accepting inputs and producing outputs in an organized transformation process.

A system (sometimes called a dynamic system) has three basic interacting components or functions.  These include:

·         Input involves capturing and assembling elements that enter the system to be processed.

·         Processing involves transformation processes that convert input into output.

·         Output involves transferring elements that have been produced by a transformation process to their ultimate destination.

Feedback and Control:

Two additional components of the system concept include feedback and control.  A system with feedback and control components is sometimes called a cybernetic system, that is, a self-monitoring, self-regulating system.

·         Feedback is data about the performance of a system.

·         Control involves monitoring and evaluating feedback to determine whether a system is moving toward the achievement of its goals.  The control function then makes necessary adjustments to a system's input and processing components to ensure that it produces proper output.

Other System Characteristics:

A system does not exist in a vacuum; rather, it exists and functions in an environment containing other systems.

Subsystem:                            A system that is a component of a larger system, where the larger system is its environment.

System Boundary:               A system is separated from its environment and other systems by its system boundary.

Interface:                              Several systems may share the same environment.  Some of these systems may be connected to one another by means of a shared boundary, or interface. 

Open System:                        A system that interacts with other systems in its environment is called an open system (connected to its environment by exchanges of inputs and outputs).

Adaptive System:                 A system that has the ability to change itself or its environment in order to survive is called an adaptive system.