What is IS?

 IS – a set of interrelated components working

together to collect, retrieve, process, store, and
distribute information for the purpose of
facilitating planning, control, coordination,
analysis, and decision making in business
organizations
 Input-process-output perspective
 People-organization-technology perspective
Choice Hotels Reservation
System example:
 Technology – the means by which data is
transformed and organized for business use:
 Hardware
 Software
 Database
 Telecommunication
 People – the users of IS
 Organization -- a collection of functional units
working together to achieve a common goal
Functional units of business
organizations:

 production
 sales/marketing
 finance/accounting
 human resources

 maximize profit by producing goods

and/or services
Functional Areas of Business

 The manufacturing and production function

is responsible for producing the firm's goods and
services. There are three stages of the
manufacturing/ production process:
 inbound logistics
 production
 outbound logistics
Functional Areas of Business

 The sales and marketing function is

responsible for finding customers for the firm's
product or service and selling the firm's product
or service to those customers. The sales and
marketing process consists of
 identifying and creating markets
 developing markets
 maintaining markets
Functional Areas of Business

 The finance and accounting function is

responsible for managing the firm's financial
assets and maintaining the firm's financial
records. The finance process involves managing
the firm's financial assets, whereas the
accounting process is involved primarily in
financial record keeping.
Functional Areas of Business

 The human resource function is responsible

for attracting and maintaining an appropriate
work force for the firm. The human resources
process entails
 attracting the work force
 developing the firm's work force to meet the firm's
personnel needs
 maintaining the work force
Computer vs IS literacy
IS in Business

 Business functions
 Business processes
 A series of interrelated activities through which work
is organized and focused to produce a product or
service
 Business levels
 Strategic (long range planning)
 Tactical (co-ordinate & supervise)
 Operational (produce product & service)
The order generation and fulfillment process (Fig. 2.2)
Role of IS in Business
Competitive advantage
 Low-cost (value chain)
 Market niche
 Product differentiation
 Customer loyalty

Globalization
 People (language)
 Organization (culture)
 Technology (telecommunication)
The value chain views the firm as a series of basic activities
that add value to a firm's products or services (Fig. 3-2)
Primary activities
•inbound logistics,
•operations,
•outbound logistics,
•sales and marketing
•service
Support activities
•administration and management
•human resources
•technology and procurement.
Quality
 Process simplification
 Benchmarking
 Customer focus
 Cycle time reduction
 Improve design & production
 Error reduction
Reengineering
 Business processes redesign
Ethical & social responsibility
 Information rights & privacy
 Intellectual property
 Accountability & liability
 Quality of life
IS Approach to Problem Solving

Systems Analysis
Systems Design
Systems Analysis & Design
 Systems Analysis
 Problem analysis (what)
 Information gathering (where & why)
 Decision making (how)
 Establish objectives
 Determine feasibility
 Choose best solution
 Systems Design (Input, Process, Output,
Procedures, Control)
 Logical design
Systems Analysis & Design
 Systems Design
 Logical design (what will the system do?)
 Input: content, format, source, volume, frequency, timing
 Process: rule, model, formula, timing
 Output: content, format, organization, volume, freq., timing
 Storage: data, format, organization, relationship, volume
 Procedure: manual activities, rule, sequence, timing, location
 Control: security, accuracy, validity, supervision
 Physical design (how the system will work?)
 Input: keyboard, voice, scanner
 Process: PC, operating system, software
 Output: print-outs, files, audio
 Storage: tape, CD
 Procedure: batching, backup, auditing, data entry
 Control: batch control, password, audit logs
 Implementation (coding, testing, training)
Technology perspective
to problem solving
Organizational perspective to
problem solving
People
perspective to
problem solving