Introduction to Management

Information Systems

Amit Agrahari
Information Technology and Systems
Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Amit is…
• Cofounder
– Procurement Observatory, Uttar Pradesh, India
• South Asia’s first public procurement observatory established in 2013.
www.procurementobservatoryup.com
– SIDBI Centre for Innovations in Financial Inclusion
• A Fintech incubation and research centre established with support from SIDBI and DFID, Govt
of United Kingdom (www.iimlscifi.com)

• Consulting offered to
– Kolkata Port Trust, The World Bank Group, Department of Post, Indian Army WE Dte,
Army Service Corps, Govt of India, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Mumbai Rail
Vikas Corporation, Pradeshik Cooperative Dairy Federation, TTD, Uttar Pradesh
Power Corporation Limited….

• Training program
– Certificate Program in Business Analytics for Executives
• Offered in collaboration with Kelley School of Business, Indiana University and SAS Education
– International Training Program on the World Bank’s New Procurement Framework
• Participation from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Georgia, Myanmar, Rwanda and
India.

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Course Overview
• The course is based on the premise that effective
utilization of information systems resources is essential
for creating a successful and competitive firm.

• In a global corporation, successful managers need to

design, select, adopt and leverage information systems to
add business value as well as provide useful products
and services to their customers.

• The course integrates information systems and

interdisciplinary management concepts and is designed
to prepare students to be an effective exploiter of
Information Systems for business value and strategic
benefits.

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Course Overview
• Demonstrate understanding of information systems strategy, information systems theoretical
models and frameworks and the relationship between business and IS strategies

• Analyze the business environment and identify opportunities for implementing information
systems

• Demonstrate understanding of human, organizational, and technical issues associated with

implementation of information systems

• Critically synthesize, analyze and evaluate material relating to information systems in an

organization and/or from case studies

• Understand the role and application of Enterprise Systems in Organizations

• Understand the role of Data Science and Predictive Analytics to improve business
performance in key functional areas

• Demonstrate an understanding of Digital Transformation and how SMAC (Social, Mobile,

Analytics and Cloud) is disrupting/ transforming various industries/ organizations

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Study Questions

• Why is Introduction to MIS the most important

class in the business school?
• How will MIS affect me?
• What is MIS?
• What is information?
• What are necessary data characteristics?

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Why MIS the most important class in the
business school?
• The Digital Revolution
• Technology fundamentally changing business.
• Information Age
– Production, distribution, control of information primary
economic drivers.
• Digital Revolution
– From mechanical/analog devices to digital devices.

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Fundamental Forces Changing Technology
Law Meaning Implications

The number of transistors Computers are getting exponentially

per square inch on an faster.
Moore’s Law
integrated chip doubles every The cost of data processing is
18 months. approaching zero.
The value of a network is More digital devices are being
equal to the square of the connected together.
Metcalfe’s Law
number of users connected The value of digital and social
to it. networks is increasing exponentially.
Network connection speeds
Network speed is increasing. Higher
for high-end users will
Nielsen’s Law speeds enable new products,
increase by 50 percent per
platforms, and companies.
year.
Storage capacity is increasing
The storage density on
exponentially.
Kryder’s Law magnetic disks is increasing
The cost of storing data is
at an exponential rate.
approaching zero.
Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow
 Understanding the Forces Pushing the
Evolution of New Digital Devices
• Bell’s Law
– New class of computers establishes a new industry
each decade.
• New platforms, programming environments, industries,
networks, and information systems.
• Understand how next digital evolution will affect
businesses.
• What an industry does and how it does it will
change.

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 How will MIS affect me?

• Technological Change is Accelerating

• Bell’s Law
– Today’s highly successful business could be bankrupt
quickly because technology changed and it didn’t.
• Example: Blockbuster
– In 2004 Blockbuster had $5.9B in revenues
– In 2010 Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy
– High-speed network connections and streaming video
changed the competitive landscape

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 How Can I Attain Job Security?

• Moore’s Law, Metcalfe’s Law, and Kryder’s Law

– Driving data processing, storage, communications
costs to essentially zero.
• Any routine skill can, and will, be outsourced to
lowest bidder.

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 What Skills Will Be Marketable During Your
Career?
• Rapid technological change and increased
international competition:
– Requires skills and ability to adapt.
– Favors people with strong non-routine cognitive skills.
– Message: Develop strong non-routine cognitive skills.

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 What Is a Marketable Skill?
Skill Definition Tools

Ability to make and Business Process Modeling,

Abstract
manipulate models. Construct Data Modeling, Data
Reasoning
a model or representation. Warehouse Modeling
Ability to model system
components, connect inputs
Systems Thinking and outputs among Enterprise Architecture.
components to reflect
structure and dynamics.
Develop ideas and plans with
Social networking, digital
Collaboration others. Provide and receive
payment
critical feedback.

Create and test promising new

Ability to
alternatives, consistent with Business Analytics
Experiment
available resources.

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 What is MIS?

• Key elements
1. Management and use
2. Information systems
3. Strategies
• Goal of MIS:
• Managing IS to achieve business strategies.

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Management Information Systems (cont’d)

• Management and use to:

– Develop, maintain, adapt by:
• Creating an information system that meets your needs, take
an active role in system’s development. Why?
• Business professionals using cognitive skills to understand
business needs and requirements.

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Components of an Information System?

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Difference Between IT and IS

• Information technology (IT)

IT People
1. Products
2. Methods IS
3. Inventions
4. Standards
Procedures
– IT drives development of new IS.
– IT components = Hardware + Software + Data
– IS = IT + Procedures + People

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Why Is the Difference Between IT and IS
Important to You?
• Avoid common mistake: Cannot buy an IS.
– Can buy, rent, lease hardware, software, and
databases, and predesigned procedures.
• People execute procedures to employ new IT.
• New systems require training, overcoming
employee resistance, and managing employees
as they use new system.

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 What is information?

Definitions vary:
1. Knowledge derived from data.
2. Meaningful context.
3. Processed data, or data processed by
summing, ordering, averaging, grouping,
comparing, or similar operations.
4. “A difference that makes a difference.”

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 What are necessary data characteristics?

• Accurate
• Timely
• Relevant
– To context
– To subject
• Just sufficient
• Worth its cost

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

 Thank You

Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow