Business Information Systems

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 Preamble
 Life without the assistance of a computer is now
unimaginable
 Computer based Information Systems (IS) have become
ubiquitous
 Organizations that ignore investment in IS risk losing
business to competitors
 Organizations also need to keep up with the ever
changing IS environment
 Computing power doubles every 18 months (Moore’s
Law)

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Preamble
Current Trends in Technology
 Robotics – Robot: “A machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions
automatically, especially one programmable by a computer”, Have sensors, e.g.
Self driving cars, vacuum cleaners
 Blockchain technology penetrates all forms of Industry, finance, e. Gvt, e-voting,
healthcare
 IoT Penetration
 Online collaboration platforms available to everyone
 ………..

How can organizations make the most out of technology, and what innovations can
they create to realize a competitive advantage? 3
 Business & the Information Age
 Computerization of businesses changes the way of doing business
 Businesses go online to attract more customers with:
 Larger selection
 Searching
 Speed
 Customer reviews
 Cheaper goods & services

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 Some IS Concepts
 Information age – Infinite facts available to users
 Fact – confirmed/ validated data/information
 Business information systems – designed to solve problems using people, data and
technology
 Core drivers of the Information age:
 Data- descriptors of events and objects
 Information – Data processed into meaningful facts for decision making
 Business intelligence – information collected from various sources (customers,
suppliers, competitors, partners & other industries)
 Knowledge – Skills, experience, expertise + information

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 Some IS Concepts
 Competitive advantage – customers see an organization’s product as having more
value than a competitor’s
 First mover advantage – To be the first to embrace a technology, may result in
gaining a larger market share or failure if things do not go your way
 Competitive intelligence – the act of gathering information about the competitive
environment, usually leads to competitive success.
 Disruptive technology – Kind of technology with no precursor (initial) form, e.g.
the Internet.
 Sustaining technology- Kind of technology that leads to improved products that
customers are willing to buy.

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 IS Specialists Role in Business
 Determine what IS solutions to offer to businesses using
best practices for implementation
 Discover business system needs and how they can best be
served by information systems.
 IS professionals focus on solving problems in businesses
through the use of information systems.

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What is a System?
System
Boundary
In general: Target

Feedback

Input Process Output

Systems receive inputs & transform them into outputs

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
 Components of a generic system
 Input – Raw materials for a process that will produce a particular output.
 Process – Inputs are turned into output by a transformational process
 Output – A product/ service that is created by a system.
 Feedback mechanism – Provides information on the performance of a system
which can be used to adjust its behavior.
 Control mechanism – Makes adjustments to the system as per need. Provides
some corrective mechanisms.
 Target/ Goal - defines the purpose for which all the system objects,
attributes and relationships have been organized
 System Boundary- line that divides the system from its environment, this
makes it possible to focus on a particular system within a hierarchy of
systems. Can either be physical or logical
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 Organizations as Systems
 Organizations are special kinds of systems
 They get input from the environment and give out output in the form
of products or services
 Analyse the following organizations using the general system model:

i. University
ii. Hospital

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 Organisational Culture
Answers to the following questions provide a definition of that
organization’s culture:
 Is there a dress code in the organisation?
 Are there written rules surrounding the conduct of the individuals who
are part
 of it?
 Is the organisation formal or informal?
 What benefits are available to individuals who are part of the
organisation?
 Do the hierarchy believe in a certain way of doing things?
 Are there clearly defined aims for the organisation?
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Organisational Environments
An organisation’s environment detects its goals
An organisation’s environment can be determined from the
following answers:-
 Does the organisation have many or few customers?
 Does the organisation function independently on its own, or is it
part of a chain of other organisations?
 Does the organisation need a constant stream of new customers
to provide inputs to its activities, or has it built up long-term
relationships with existing customers?

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 Organisational Structures
Determined by policies, culture, environment
Entrepreneurial – e.g. Start-ups, operate in a fast-changing environment and have a
simple structure with a single chief executive officer managing the business.
Machine bureaucracy – Medium-sized production org. with standard products
produced in a slow-changing environment. Such organisations are dominated by a
centralised management team.
Divisionalised bureaucracy –Group of org., Each organisation in the group may
produce its own product or provide a different service, but they are managed by a
central headquarters which oversees the organisation as a whole.
Professional bureaucracy –Knowledge-based organisations, typically dominated by
department heads and have a weak centralised authority , e.g. schools,
universities.
Adhocracy – ad hoc means ‘put together for a purpose’ and some organisations fall
under this, such organisations respond to a rapidly changing environment and
typically consist of a large group of people
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 Key Issues to consider on IS Investment
 Environment in which the organisation operates
 Structure of the organisation
 Culture and politics of the organisation
 Style of management
 People affected by the organisation – its employees and other
interested parties
 Goal of the information system – what is the task, decision,
business process

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 Information Systems (IS)
 Information systems are combinations of hardware, software, and
telecommunications networks that people build and use to collect,
create, and distribute useful data, typically in organizational settings
OR
 Information systems are interrelated components working together
to collect, process, store, and disseminate information to support
decision making, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization in
an organization

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 Customers
 Consume organizational services/products
 Determine/detect organizational success
 Have different preferences
 Can be classified
 IS should provide customers with up to date information on what
the organization offers
 IS should provide a platform for customer feedback

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 Products and Services
 These are offerings from the organisation
 Products are tangible while services are intangible
 Productsand services determine organization’s
uniqueness
 Organizations thrive for quality in their products
 IS help to build quality into products and services

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 Business Process
 Process - series of steps undertaken to achieve a desired outcome or goal.
 Information systems are integrated with organizational processes, resulting in
more productivity and better control to those processes.
 Businesses looking to effectively utilize information systems use technology to
manage and improve processes, both within a company and externally with
suppliers and customers
 Business process reengineering, business process management and enterprise
resource planning provide continued improvement of business procedures and
the integration of technology with them.
 Businesses hoping to gain an advantage over their competitors are highly
focused on this component of information systems

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 Participants
 Stakeholders of the IS, can be in various forms:-
 End users- use the information system to provide and receive
services
 System developers – design, implement and maintain the
information system
 Decision makers – use the information system to detect the
running of the business
 Quality Control – Enforce quality standards appropriate for the IS

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 Information
 Basis for the running of the organisation
 Meaningful facts about the organisation and its surroundings
 Quality information is key
 Can be converted into knowledge to give the organisation a
competitive edge

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Technology
Divided into various forms:
 Hardware - the physical components of the technology.
 Computers, tablets, mobile devices
 Input devices
 Output devices
 Storage devices
 Communication devices

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Technology
 Software - set of instructions that tells the hardware what to do.
 There are several categories of software, the two are :
 Operating-system software (e. g.MS Windows, Google’s
Android)
 Application software – performs a particular function for its

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Technology
 Data - collection of facts, e. g. street address, city, phone number.
 By themselves, pieces of data are not really very useful, but
aggregated, indexed, and organized together into a database, data
can become a powerful tool for businesses.
 Organizations collect all kinds of data and use it to make decisions.

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Technology
 Network devices - made up of hardware and software, but it is
such a core feature of today’s information systems that it has
become its own category
 Enable data and information exchange among connected
devices

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 Types of IS
 Various forms of classification exist
 By technology, by levels of management, buy use
 Classification by use
 Personal

 Enterprise/ Organizational (Focus in this course)

 Public

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 Example Current Themes in IS
Technology/Management/Org
Cloud computing platform becomes
popular
Big data Applications
Powerful mobile digital platform
Online collaboration and social
networking software used to
improve coordination,
collaboration, and knowledge
sharing
Impact
Major business applications are delivered online as
an Internet service (Software as a Service, or SaaS).
Businesses now look for insights from huge volumes
of data
Collaboration, location-based services, and
communication with colleagues. Small tablet
computers challenge PCs
Support for Global Project management, online
meetings, personal profiles, and online communities.
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 Example Current Themes in IS ct’d
Technology/Management/Org Impact

BI Applications become More powerful data analytics and

popular interactive dashboards provide real time
performance information to managers to
enhance decision
making.

Telework gains Growing numbers of people to work away

momentum in the from the traditional office
workplace

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Summary
 Several definitions of information systems exist
 IS components include:-
 Customers,
 Business processes,
 Products and services
 Participants,
 Information
 Technology.

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 Task in Pairs
 IEEE defines the various forms of IS that drive the
Fourth Industrial Revolution.
 Visit the IEEE site or any Internet site
i. Outline the steps from the 1st to the 4th Industrial
Revolution (What happened at each stage)
ii. What IS Applications are key in the 4th Industrial
revolution as described by IEEE or the site that you
found?

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Key Drivers in IS for Industry 4.0
1. Mechanization →→ Efficiency,
2. Electrification →→ Mass production
3. Information (ICT) →→Automation
4. ICT & industry (4.0)

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 4.0 Components
1. Cyber Physical System (CPS) - network that connects all physical
devices to the Internet, incorporates computing,
communications, precision control, coordination and autonomy.
This enables the development of smart products
2. Key industry 4.0 technologies
 CPS,
 the mobile application solutions
 the Internet of things,
 cloud computing,
 big data and analytics,
 social and collaborative systems,
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