PAPER

INFORMATION SYSTEMS PLANS IN CONTEXT:

A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

Compiled to fulfill the assignment of Management Information System course

Lecturer: Prof Eko Ganis Sukoharsono MCom ACCY MCom HONS PhD

Oleh:

INTAN NURBAITI FAWZIAH (206020302111002)

Master of Science in Accounting

Faculty of Economic and Business
Brawijaya University
2021
 Information Systems Plans in Context: A Global Perspective

Abstract

As an increasing number of businesses expand their operations into international markets, in order to
succeed they need to understand the considerable cultural, economic, and political diversity that exists
in different parts of the world. For these reasons, while information technology is a critical enabler
and many times a driver of global business expansion, it cannot be applied uniformly across the
world. This paper is aimed at analyzing the key information systems/technology (IS/IT) issues
identified during the last decade in different regions of the world. Spurred by periodic key IS issues
studies in the USA, several researchers have attempted to do the same for many other countries. We
summarize many of their findings, and provide insights into the various differences and similarities
among countries. A precursory model is developed to help understand the underlying causes into the
nature of the issues. Elements of a more detailed model, worthy of further exploration, are also
presented.

Introduction

During the past few years, the world has witnessed an unprecedented expansion of business
into global markets. At the same time there is realization that information technology (IT) has played
a crucial role in the race towards globalization. IT has been a critical enabler of globalization in most
cases and a driver in some cases. Today, multinational corporations and governments increasingly
rely on information technology (IT) for conducting international business. Therefore, in order to
exploit fully the vast potential of IT, it is extremely important for corporate executives and chief
information officers to understand the nature of the global information technology environment. In
this chapter, we aim to provide not only this understanding, but also provide insights into the nature of
world IT issues.

The key IS issues in different countries vary to a considerable degree. In order to exploit fully
IT for global business, it is imperative that the key IS issues of different countries are identified and
dealt with appropriately in the conduct of international business. While an examination of IS issues of
the entire world is impractical and infeasible, and even the data are not readily available, we
summarize issues from a few countries selected on the basis of their level of economic development.
Four categories of economic development are defined: advanced, newly industrialized, developing
(operational), and under-developed. This classification is somewhat parallel to that used by many
international agencies (e.g. the United Nations).

Key MIS issues in advanced nations

 A ranked list of IS management issues as reported by Niederman et al. (1991). These issues
were captured by a three-round Delphi survey of senior IS executives in the US. It should be noted

these ranks represent the opinions of the members of the Society for Information Management (SIM).
Typically, the SIM membership comprises large private organizations. The top ten issues are
reviewed below. The review draws heavily from the Niederman et al. article

Rank 1. Information architecture. An information architecture is a high level map of the information
requirements of an organization. Also called the enterprise model, it provides the overall framework
to guide application development and database development.

Rank 2. Data resource. Data should be regarded as a vital resource for an organization, especially for
the information systems function and application development. Data and information are corporate
resources, and not in the domain of an individual or a subgroup, but for the benefit of the entire
organization.

Rank 3. Strategic planning. Strategic IT planning refers to IT planning that supports business goals,
missions, and strategy. With the role of IT elevated to a strategic tool for obtaining competitive
advantage and achieving superior performance, the need for strategic IT planning is of paramount
importance.

Rank 4. IS human resources. Human resources for IS include technical as well as managerial
personnel. This issue reappeared in the top ten list, after an absence in the previous study of 1986.
This factor includes such concerns as planning for human resources, hiring, retaining, and developing
human resources.
Rank 5. Organizational learning. This issue calls for continued organizational learning about the
applications of information technology, and productive use of information systems. Historically,
information systems have been initiated by IS managers, and they have been the purveyors of
information technology.

Rank 6. Technology infrastructure. Infrastructure includes such components as organization’s diverse

computers, telecommunication networks (both LANs and WANs), databases, operating systems,
system software, and business applications.

Rank 7. IS organization alignment. The organizational positioning of the IS department within the
company has a direct impact on its effectiveness. In early days of computing, IS was relegated to
Accounting or Personnel departments, and had the image of a service/overhead function.

Rank 8. Competitive advantage. Information technology and information systems in a firm can be
used in ways that provide a decided advantage over its competitors.

Rank 9. Software development. The development of software represents a major expenditure for the
IS organization, yet it remains fraught with problems of poor quality, unmet needs, constant delays,
and exceeded budgets.

Rank 10. Telecommunication systems. Telecommunication systems provide the backbone for an
organization to do business anywhere anytime, without being constrained by time or distance.

Key MIS issues in newly industrialized nations

Several countries have made rapid economic growth in just over a decade. These countries
have emerged as the ‘newly industrialized countries’ (NICs) and are now beginning to prosper. While
the precise categorization of any country into any class is somewhat contentious, and is also subject to
movement over time, countries like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Ireland, South Korea, and Singapore fall
into this group.
Rank 1. Communication between IS department and end users. Communication between these two
groups of people is necessary as one group is the user and the other the builder.

Rank 2. Top management support. Top management support is required as IS projects require major
financial and human resources. They also may take long periods of time to complete.

Rank 3. IS strategic planning. IS strategic planning in Taiwan is difficult due to rapid changes in
technology, lack of familiarity with IS planning methodologies, inadequate understanding of business
processes, short term orientation of firms, absence of successful domestic planning models, top
management’s unwillingness to provide adequate funding to implement strategy, and lack of top
management support for the planning process.

Rank 4. Competitive advantage. In the private sector, several retail, wholesale, transportation, and
media firms have begun to build information systems that can be utilized to make new inroads, create
business opportunities, and enable an organization to differentiate itself in the marketplace.

Rank 5. Goal alignment. The needs and goals of the IS department can often be at odds with the
organizational goals. A major incongruence results in potential conflicts and sub-optimization of IS
resources.

Rank 6. Computerization of routine work. As a paradox, the production of IT products has had a
striking growth in Taiwan, while the businesses themselves have been slow in adopting the
technology.

Rank 7. IT infrastructure. In vibrant economies, a responsive IT infrastructure is vital to the flexibility

and changing needs of a business organization.

Rank 8. System integration. Integration of various system components into a unified whole provides
benefits of synergy, effectiveness, and added value to the user.

Rank 9. Software development productivity. Productivity is measured simply by the ratio of outputs
to inputs. On both outputs, e.g. the quality and magnitude of software produced, and inputs, e.g. total
time to complete a project and total person-hours, IS has had a dismal record

Rank 10. System friendliness. Ease of use and user-oriented features are essential to the success and
continued use of a software product, as the popularity of graphical user interface (GUI) will testify
Key MIS issues in developing nations

Countries which can be loosely described as developing countries include: Argentina, Brazil,
India, and Mexico. These countries have been using information technology for a number of years,
yet their level of IT sophistication and types of applications may be wanting in several respects

Rank 1. Understanding and awareness of MIS contribution. An appreciation of the benefits and
potential applications of MIS is absolutely necessary for successful IT deployment. There is a general
lack of knowledge among Indian managers as to what management information systems can do for
their business

Rank 2. Human resources and personnel for MIS. Higher national priorities and lower priorities
assigned to IS development have caused the neglect of IS human resource development.

Rank 3. Quality of input data. Information systems rely on accurate and reliable data. The age-old
adage of GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) is well known in MIS, and directly impacts the quality of
IS.

Rank 4. Educating senior managers about MIS. This issue suggests a possible response to the top-
ranked issue dealing with the lack of understanding and awareness of the role of MIS in organizations

Rank 5. User friendliness of systems. The appearance of this issue in a developing nation may be
attributed to several factors. First, the users in a developing nation are generally novices and untrained
in the use of information technology; thus they may not be at ease with computer interfaces. Second,
much of the software and systems are imported from Western and advanced nations. This software is
geared to the needs of their people and may not be user-friendly in regard to the needs and cultural
backgrounds of users in the importing nation.

Rank 6. Continuing training and education of the MIS staff. The education issue comes up once again,
this time in the context of MIS personnel. Rapid advances in technology and a lower level of IT
preparedness in developing countries put further pressure on MIS personnel to keep pace with the
technology

Rank 7 (tie). Maintenance of software, and standards in hardware and software. These two related
issues were tied in rank. Maintenance refers to fixing and updating production software when there
are bugs or new requirements. Maintenance is a problem because of inadequate resources and
competition for resources from new applications

Rank 9. Data security. An organization’s data is a valuable corporate resource, and needs to be
protected else it may be abused to the organization’s detriment. Data contained in manual systems
was not very vulnerable to breach of security due to either unavailability of ready access or
inordinately long access times
Rank 10 (tie). Packaged Applications Software Availability, and Cultural Barriers. These two issues
were tied in rank. Off-the-shelf packaged application software provides an inexpensive alternative to
in-house development.

Key MIS issues in underdeveloped nations

Underdeveloped or basic countries are characterized by low or stagnant economic growth,

low GNP, high levels of poverty, low literacy rates, high unemployment, agriculture as the dominant
sector, and poor national infrastructure.

Rank 1.
Obsolescence of computing equipment. Of greatest concern was the state of obsolescence of most
computer equipment. The need for state of the art equipment is urgent and was a critical concern for
the IS executives. The current inventory is aging fast and simply does not meet the requirements of
most businesses.

Rank 2. Obsolescence of software. The inventory of software (including operating systems and
application programs) is also quite dated. Most of the packages are of the word processor and
spreadsheet variety, or their emulations

Rank 3. Proliferation of mixed vendor shops. There are many vendors to choose from within one
country, let alone the number of vendors in the entire world. While competition among vendors
should raise the quality and reduce the cost of technology acquisition, it may also cause severe
problems if vendor selection is not done carefully

Rank 4. Availability of skilled MIS personnel and professional development. There is a shortage of
people with computing and systems skills

Rank 5. Possible government intervention in the computer industry. In economies dominated by

government control, there is always the risk of government intervention in the computer industry,
thereby threatening to reduce competition and increasing the probability of a monopoly

Rank 6. Establishment of professional standards. The lack of professional standards threatens the
entry of non-professionals and untrained people into the MIS field, thereby further aggravating the IS
quality issue.

Rank 7. Improvement of IS productivity. Productivity is a concern in these two nations as a result of

lack of professionalism, lack of access to state of the art productivity tools, and deteriorating hardware
and software.

A model of global information technology environment

The model depicted in Figure 6.1 provides a first attempt in understanding the complex global
IT environment. According to the model, the level of information technology adoption increases from
one stage to the next, i.e. from underdeveloped to developing to advanced nations. Quite striking are
the types of MIS issues at each stage of economic development. In the underdeveloped countries, the
infrastructural issues dominate (e.g. the very availability of computer hardware, operating and
applications software, and human resources for MIS). In the developing countries, operational issues
are paramount (e.g. management’s awareness of MIS capabilities, human resource development for
MIS, quality of data, standards). Advanced country issues are characterized by strategic needs (e.g.
information architecture, data resource management, strategic planning for MIS, organizational
learning).
 Basic
elements of a more complete model for global IT environment are offered in Figure 6.2. Some
summary comments are made about this model here; more elaboration and expansion are subjects of
further investigation. Besides level of economic growth, other factors critical to information
technology adoption by firms in a country include its culture and political system. National culture
comprises the values, beliefs, and behavior patterns dominant in a country, and has a strong influence
on institutional and organizational patterns of behavior. The political system and government policies
also have an impact on the IT readiness of a nation, as can be seen in the startling differences found

among western countries, Russia, Eastern European countries, and Pacific Rim countries.
Conclusion

Reports of information systems management issues in different parts of the world are useful to
organizations as they begin to plan and implement IT applications across the world. In this paper, we
have presented IS issues for many countries, and have examined the issues in USA, Taiwan, India,
and Kenya and Zimbabwe in greater depth. The world is a large place, and attempting to understand
the critical issues in every single country, or even selected countries, would be an arduous, perhaps an
imprudent task. Instead, we have divided countries into four classes, and have provided an example in
each class. An elementary model for the global IT environment has been postulated based on this
categorization. While generalizations are fraught with risks, the provision of such a model will help
practitioners and researchers alike in a preliminary assessment of the criticality of the various IT
issues in different regions of the world.

References

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Niederman, F., Brancheau, J. C. and Wetherbe, J. C. Information systems management issues for the
1990’s. MIS Quarterly, December 1991.
Palvia, P. and Wang, Pien. An expanded global information technology issue model: an addition of
newly industrialized countries. Journal of Information Technology Management, Vol. VI,
No.2,
1995, pp. 29–39.
Palvia, P. and Palvia, S. MIS issues in India and a comparison with the United States: Technical Note.
International Information Systems, Vol. I, No. 2, April 1992, pp. 100–110.
Palvia, P., Palvia, S. and Zigli, R. M. Global information technology environment: key MIS issues in
advanced and less developed nations. In The Global Issues of Information Technology
Management, edited by S. Palvia, P. Palvia and R. M. Zigli, Idea Group Publishing, 1992