Professional Documents
Culture Documents
This Chapter 1 discuss the basic types of business information systems, describe the role that information
systems play in an organization’s supply chain and Define the types of roles, functions, and careers
available in the field of information systems.
Learning Outcomes
Define what an information system is by identifying its major components;
Describe the basic history of information systems; and
Define the term “competitive advantage” and identify the factors that lead firms to seek competitive
advantage.
Describe three methods for assessing the financial attractiveness of an information system project.
Define the types of roles, functions, and careers available in the field of information systems
VALUES INTEGRATION
Integrity witnesses of faith, upholds our Claretian principle and lives a moral and dignified
life.
Excellence strives for perfection and holiness, pursues academic excellence in achieving
holistic transformation.
OVERVIEW:
Exposing students to fundamental IS principles is an advantage even for those students who take no IS courses
beyond the introductory IS course. Since most functional areas of the business rely on information systems, an
understanding of IS principles helps students in their other course work. In addition, introducing students to the
Fundamentals of Information Systems helps future business managers and entrepreneurs employ information
systems successfully and avoid mishaps that often result in unfortunate consequences. Furthermore, presenting
IS concepts at the introductory level creates interest among students who may later choose information systems
“When people talk about length of service—you’ve been around for about a hundred years, what people are afraid of
is that you’re not innovating, you’re not up-to-date, you’re not paying attention to what’s going on, and you’re slow to
react,” explains CEO Peter Willson. The corporation has relied heavily on information technology to put this worry to
rest. Willson has kept a careful eye on technology, incorporating personal computers when they first became available
in the 1980s. Willson expanded and began offering international freight forwarding services.
In 1990, Tim Burton invented the World Wide Web and Willson unveiled its first electronic processing system of
entries and transmissions to customs. In 2005, Willson launched its first customer portal, which today allows
customers to upload their shipment information for transmission to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection or the
Canadian Border Services Agency.
In 2008, Willson acquired a logistics company to add trucking, warehousing, and distribution services. However, with
this growth came the need to innovate and reengineer business processes.
“Customs requires all information about a shipment two hours before the truck crosses, but sometimes we may only
receive the information from our customer two hours and five minutes before the crossing. That means we have five
minutes to process the information and get it to customs,” explains Arik Kalinisky, vice president of information
technology.
But many customers relying on Willson’s new services still used faxes. Willson employed a small army to manually
key data from faxes into the database. One paper copy of this shipment paperwork had to be sent to the customer and
one had to be stored off-site. “Each of our 12 branch locations had three or four fax machines spitting out paper
around the clock,” Kalinisky remembers. Willson deployed Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, a Web application
platform for intranet content management.
They used the platform to convert incoming faxes to electronic files, improving efficiency by 25 percent. The new
system allowed Willson to reduce costs and errors by automating the process and eliminating the need to store
millions of paper documents off site.
The company then developed an intranet solution to connect the information systems from every department. Import
analysts, event handlers, and employees from other departments can now collaborate more easily using Willson ’s
online systems. Willson released an eBilling solution generating invoices and email confirmations automatically.
Through these ongoing and continuous improvement efforts, Willson has been able to attain its ultimate goal—to
improve customer service and to prove that a ninety-plus year old company can still be innovative.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
● What challenges have forced Willson to reengineer its business processes?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
● How was Willson constricted by its customers’ use of paper-based communication?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
TASK 2:
ABSTRACTION: Let’s
Add to What You Part 1- Information Systems in Perspective
Know
Information system (is): A set of interrelated components that collect, manipulate, store, and disseminate
data and information and provide a feedback mechanism to meet an objective.
INFORMATION CONCEPTS
Data: Raw facts, such as an employee number, total hours worked in a week, inventory part numbers, or
sales orders.
Information: A collection of facts organized and processed so that it has additional value beyond the value
of the individual facts.
Process: A set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined outcome.
knowledge: The awareness and understanding of a set of information and the ways that information can be
made useful to support a specific task
or reach a decision.
HARDWARE: Computer
equipment used to perform input, processing, storage, and output activities.
SOFTWARE: The computer programs that govern the operation of the computer.
– Smartphone running Android- Android is an operating system designed mainly for touch screen
mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.
DATABASE: An organized collection of facts and information, typically consisting of two or more
related data files.
Enterprise Systems
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
SYSTEM (MIS): An organized
collection ofpeople, procedures,
software, databases, and devices that
provides routine information to
managers and decision makers.
Robotics - Robotics is an area of artificial intelligence in which machines take over complex, dangerous,
routine, or boring tasks, such as welding car frames or moving pallets of products around in a warehouse.
Industries are turning to the use of robots to increase production and quality while decreasing waste and
costs.
Vision Systems - Vision systems allow robots and other devices to “see,” store, and process visual
images. Researchers have developed a vision-enabled snake robot that provides a way to view hard-to-
reach or radioactively contaminated areas of power plants inaccessible to people. First tested in a nuclear
power plant in Austria, the snake can twist and turn as it moves through or over pipes and provide video
to a control station.
Natural Language Systems - Natural language processing involves the computer understanding,
analyzing, manipulating and/or generating natural languages. It encompasses three main application
areas: (1) computer translation of speech or text from one language to another, (2) dialogue systems that
enable a human to communicate with a computer using a natural language, and (3) information extraction
that transforms unstructured text into structured data that can be searched and browsed in flexible ways.
Natural language processing is opening exciting new possibilities for how humans interact with
computers and how we access the vast amount of data available in electronic form.
Learning Systems - Learning systems allow computers to learn from past mistakes or experiences, such
as playing games or making business decisions. Watson is the artificially intelligent computer system
with natural language processing and learning capabilities that first demonstrated its prowess by
defeating two former Jeopardy champions in 2011.
Neural Networks - Neural networks allow computers to recognize and act on patterns or trends. Some
successful stock, options, and futures traders use neural networks to spot trends and improve the
profitability of their investments.
SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT: The activity of creating or modifying information systems.
Innovation - Innovation is the catalyst for the growth and success of any organization. It can build and sustain
profits, create new challenges for the competition, and provide added value for customers. Innovation and
change are absolutely required in today’s highly competitive global environment or the organization is at risk of
losing its competiveness and becoming obsolete.
DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION THEORY: A theory developed by E.M. Rogers to explain how a new idea
or product gains acceptance and diffuses (or spreads) through a specific population or subset of an organization.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: A significant and ideally long-term benefit to a company over its
competition.
FIVE-FORCES MODEL: A widely accepted model that identifies five key factors that can lead to
attainment of competitive advantage, including
(1) the rivalry among existing competitors,
(2) the threat of new entrants,
(3) the threat of substitute products and services,
(4) the bargaining power of buyers, and (
5) the bargaining power of suppliers.
o Threat of New Entrants-A threat appears when entry and exit costs to an industry are low and the
technology needed to start and maintain a business is commonly available.
For example, a small restaurant is threatened by new competitors.
o Threat of Substitute Products and Services- Companies that offer one type of goods or services are
threatened by other companies that offer similar goods or services. The more consumers can obtain
similar products and services that satisfy their needs, the more likely firms are to try to establish
competitive advantage.
o
o Bargaining Power of Customers and Suppliers- Large customers tend to influence a firm, and this
influence can increase significantly if the customers threaten to switch to rival companies. When
customers have a lot of bargaining power, companies increase their competitive advantage to retain their
customers.
o TIME VALUE OF MONEY: Takes into account the fact that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar
paid in the future.
o PAYBACK PERIOD: Takes into account all the increases and decreases in cash flow associated with the
project.
o INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN: The rate of return that makes the net present value of all cash flows
(benefits and costs) generated by a project equal to zero.
Senior IS Managers- A large organization may have several people employed in senior IS managerial levels
with job titles such as vice president of information systems, manager of information systems, and chief
technology officer (CTO).
Operations Roles -The operations group is responsible for the day to day running of IS hardware to process the
organization’s information systems workload.
Development Roles- The development group is responsible for implementing the new information systems
required to support the organization’s existing and future business needs.
Support -The support group provides customer service for the employees, customers, and business partners that
rely on the firm’s information systems and service to accomplish their work.
Certification: A process for testing skills and knowledge, which results in a statement by the certifying authority
that confirms an individual is capable of performing particular tasks.
Finding a Job in IS
Traditional approaches to finding a job in the information systems area include attending on-campus visits from
recruiters and referrals from professors, friends, and family members. Many colleges and universities have
excellent programs to help students develop résumés and conduct job interviews.
3. What additional actions are required on the part of Facebook users to maintain adequate privacy?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
REFLECTION/SY
Describe a privacy issue so serious that it would cause you to stop
NAPSE
using
STRENGTHENER Facebook.
TASK 4:
REFERENCE:
Fundamentals of Information Systems, Eight Edition 2016
Ralph M. Stair
Professor Emeritus, Florida State University
George W. Reynolds
Instructor, Strayer University
Attested:
JOCELYN C. DIAZ
Dean, IT.Department