OSIS Lecture 2

SOT701B & ICT712B
Organisational Study of Information Systems
Lecture 2: Information
Fred Amankwah-Sarfo, PhD
1
2
Course Outline
» Introduction
» Information
» Technology
» Organisation
» Emerging forms of organisation
» IT and IS innovation trends
» Emerging forms of work
» IS theories
» IT and organisation
» Sociology of technology
» IS and global diversity
Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

3
Lesson Outline – Information
» Overview
» Types of Information
» Information Economics
» Information’s Consequences

4
» Overview

Information 5
Overview
» What’s information?
Drucker, 1988; p. 4

Information 6
Overview
Information Type Relationship Instance

with Reality
Natural About Report
Cultural For Recipe
Technological As Record

7
» Overview

Information 8
Types – Natural Information

» A sign about some thing informs a
person
– A sign is an object whose function
is reference rather than presence
» Relationship between an economy of
signs and an ecology of things
– Information about reality
– A sign is the mirror in the
relationship between humanity
(person) and reality (thing)

Information 9

» A sign about a thing within a certain
context informs a person
– An object can oscillate between a sign
(reference to reality) and a thing
(presence of reality)
– A letter is principally a sign, but if it is to
matter, it must also be a little thing of
some sort such as ink (in paper) or light
(on a computer)
– An object is not a sign or a thing per se
because context of needs and
perspectives are required to determine its
nature
Information 1
0
» A sign about a thing within a certain context
informs a person provided he/she is
intelligent
– A person who beholds a sign in a certain
context may not be able to make sense of
what the sign is about
– Signs are always and already meaningful
things
– Their meanings can be discovered,
explained and qualified by humanity
– There is nothing such as the
original/innate meaning of a meaningless
sign
Information 1
1
» Information is a relation
INTELLIGENCE provided, a PERSON is informed by

a SIGN
about some THING in a certain CONTEXT
» The sign looms large especially in our information

society

Information 1
2
» Signs are deviced by humanity to lighten the
burden on memory and loosen the ties to context,
egs.
– Landmarks, stones, sounds, tokens, symbols,
rituals, numbers, letters, etc
» Writing, for instance, extricates information from
persons and contexts and sets it off against
humanity and reality
– It can be a tool for destruction of human
community through alienation and domination,
but it can equally be a tool for liberation.

Information 1
3
» Literacy can be liberating because the
detached information of writing is more
widely and easily available than natural or
oral information
» Letters can raise the power of original
information and render the world more
open and equitable
» Writing allows humanity to realize what
otherwise is prohibitively remote as a
possibility of conception and imagination
Information 1
4
» “[i]n an oral culture the relative
weakness of signs is balanced by more
robust intelligence, a fuller engagement
of the person, and greater intimacy of the
context”

Information 1
5
» Information about reality
– Emerges of itself
– Intimates rather than conveys its
message
– Disappears
– Close affinity with reality, etc

Information 1
6
» Cognitive » Usually landmarks,
information, egs egs
» Memory – Rivers
» Sense – Smoke
» Meaning, etc – Stones
– Footpaths
– Weather
– Altars, etc

Information 1
7
Types – Cultural Information
» Information about and for reality
» Wrested and abstracted from reality
» Carries a definite content
» Assumes a more enduring shape
» Produced by human beings through
social construction

Information 1
8
Types – Cultural Information
» Produced information, egs
– Text and numbers
– Structures
– Measures
– Grids, etc
» Real-ised information, egs
– Reading
– Playing
– Building, etc
Information 1
9
Types – Technological Information
» Information about, for and as reality
» Underpinned by the electron and photon
» Shaped by reduction of signs through the
routes of numeracy and literacy
» From symbols to syllables to alphabet to
decimal system to binary digits (bits)
» Detached from physical reality or referents
» Information out of information
» No lawful relation between number of bits
and reality
Information 2
0
Technological Information
» Characterized by
– Permanence, perspicuity, pliability
• via digitization, storage of astronomical
amounts, abundant availability, etc
– High resolution of the sign to
approximates reality
» Reveals otherwise invisible things
» More and more detached from reality, and
eventually rivals and/or displaces reality

Information 2
1
Technological Information
» Virtualization of:
– Reality
– Lives
– Maps, etc
» Simulation and gaming
» Digital innovation and convergence of
– Applications
– Networks
– Infrastructure, etc
» Big data and business intelligence, etc
Information 2
2
From Natural to Technological Information
» Letters are not the snapshots of infinite variety but are
results of systemic simplification (literacy)
– Balance between fidelity to reality of speech and
parsimony for the sake of efficiency
» The path to the least and fewest signs follows
numeracy rather than literacy
» The binary system is unique among all others in
constituting an irreducible system of the least signs
– It takes at least two signs (0, 1) to convey any
information
» IT has enlarged the space of the choice between signs

23
» Overview

Information Economics 2
4
Information as a Resource
» Expandable
– It is recognized that for specific purposes
information may deplete, but in general, the more we
have, the more we use, and the more useful it
becomes
» Compressible
– It is possible to concentrate, integrate, and
summarize information for easier handling
» Substitutable
– Information can and does replace land, labor, and
capital
• Facilitated by computers and telecommunications

5
» Transportable
– Information can be moved around easily
and tapped into just about anywhere
» Diffusive
– There tends to be an ability for information
to leak, allowing us to have more, and
more of us to have it
» Shareable
6
» Digital information is not like other

resources that we as humans have had
previous experience with
» Digital information is not subject to the

laws of thermodynamics that we are used
to applying to resources in the past

7
Value of Information
» Inventory
» Organisations and industries
– Held together by information logic
– Organised around information flows
– Shaped by the same kind of informational
logic as the value chains
» Branding
» Publicity and advertising
» Knowledge and awareness
» Competitive advantage
8
Differences – Costs
» Physical products » Digital information
» Seller looses it » Seller retains
» Reproduction is » Free copies
costly » Never wears out
» Wears out » Everywhere
» Exists in a location » Perfectly increasing
» Diminishing returns returns

9
Traditional Links
» Between rich information and carrier
» The medium and the message
» Product related information and product
itself
» Informational value chain and the physical
value chain
» Blend of economics of information and

economics of things in compromised bundles

30
» Overview

Information’s Consequences 3
1
Consequences of Digital Information
» Ubiquitous connectivity
» Highly transportable
» Self-referential information
» We must understand the unbundling/separation

of the economics of information and things

2
Richness and Reach
» Information delivered physically is subject
to a universal trade-off between richness
and reach
» Richness – quality of information, accuracy,

bandwidth currency, interactivity, etc.
» Reach – number of people who participate

in sharing information

3
Richness and Reach
Richness
Traditional
Trade-off
Reach

4
Richness and Reach
Assymetries
» Differences in information and knowledge that affect the
bargaining power of a party in a transaction
» Impose transaction costs on the disadvantaged participant
» For example, selling a used car
» Seller knows condition; Naïve buyer may not know
condition or value
» Professional buyer may have more information
» Inadequate information, or trust, breaks deals
» Many asymmetries arise from richness/reach tradeoffs

5
Richness and Reach
Assymetries
» Information channels imply or cause asymmetries
– Some people have access and others don’t
– Those with greater access use information to
extract value from those with less
» Need to reduce the richness/reach tradeoff, make

the channel accessible, and eliminate the
asymmetry

6
Reducing the Trade-off
Connectivity & standards
» Drivers behind the blowup of the richness/reach
trade-off:
– Connectivity: the Internet, lower cost networks,
higher speeds
– Standards: Web standards, Internet standards,
Application Standards, Database standards, etc.
» Enabling new levels of richness and reach

7
Reducing the Trade-off
Deconstruction/disintermediation
» Dismantling traditional business structures as a result of
– Separating the economics of information and the
economics of things
– Blowing up of the trade-off between richness and
reach
» Emergence of new business models

– based on the separate economics of information and
things

8
Disintermediation
Richness New
disintermediation
add richness and
reach
Traditional
disintermediation
sacrifice richness
for reach
Reach

9
Effects of Deconstruction
» Digital information businesses tend to have
more value
– Source of competitive advantage and profit
» New opportunities for physical business

– Shipping companies with e-commerce
– Supermarkets as retail banks

0
Information Business is Different
» Physical business
– Economies of scale, segmentation,
operational effectiveness
versus
» Digital business
– Alliances, new technologies, new services,
changing business boundaries, etc
1
New Trade-off
Reconstruction/re-intermediation
» Follows deconstruction/disintermediation using new

business definitions
» Navigators/infomediaries (see below) have emerged

as a new
– Function
– Industry
– Competitive opportunity
2
New Trade-off
New world of navigation
– Infinite choice
– Negligible searching (and switching) costs
– Fluidity
– Lack of a center (no hub)
– Adaptability
– Competition on affiliation, reach, richness

3
New Trade-off
Richness and reach
– Rich about the consumer

– Rich about the product
– Adding richness forestalls deconstruction
– Consumer as competitor
– What are you doing for her that she cannot do for herself?
– Value of seller’s richness goes up as reach increases
– Grab attention
– Value of seller’s richness goes down as navigators’
richness catches up

4
Primary Efficiency Effectiveness Strategic Strategic Value creation

Automate Solve problems and Increase individual Transform Create
Role of IT existing paper- create opportunities and group industry/organization collaborative
based processes effectiveness partnerships
Justify IT ROI Increasing Competitive Competitive Adding

expenditure productivity and position position Value
decision making
Target of Organization Individual manager/ Business Business processes Customer,

systems Group processes ecosystem supplier,
ecosystem
Information Application Data-driven User-driven Business-driven Knowledge-

model specific driven
Dominant Mainframe- Minicomputer-based Microcomputer Client-Server Internet

technology based “decentralized “distribution “ubiquitous
intelligence” intelligence” intelligence”

5
Basis of Value Scarcity Scarcity Scarcity Plentitude Plentitude
Underlying Economic of Economic of Economic of Economic of Economic of

economics information information information information information
bundled with bundled with bundled with separated from separated from
economics of economics of economics of economics of economics of
things things things things things

4
Reference Text 6
» Borgmann, A. (1999). Holding on to Reality: The Nature of

Information at the Turn of the Century. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
» Drucker, P. F. 1988. The Coming of the New Organisation. Harvard
Business Review (January-February):3-11.
» Evans, P. B. and T. S. Wurster (1997) Strategy and the New Economics
of information, Harvard Business Review, (September-October):70-82.
» Kallinikos, J. (2006). The Consequences of Information: Institutional
Implications of Technological Change. Cheltenham, UK: Edward
Elgar.
» Leonardi, P. M. (2007) Activating the Informational Capabilities of
Information Technology for Organisational Change. Organisation
Science 18(5):813-831.
» Malone, T. W., J. Yates and R. Benjamin (1987) Electronic Markets
and Electronic Hierarchies. Communications of the ACM, 30:484-497.
47
OSIS Assignment
Describe the organisation

What were their business processes before introducing IT
What IT did they introduce
What necessitated the need to introduce IT
How has IT transformed their business processes
Decision processes
Management structure
Organisational structure what information do people need for their jobs

where did it come from
what form is it in
how does it flow
Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD

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SOT701B & ICT712B

Organisational Study of Information Systems

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information Type Relationship Instance

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Types – Natural Information

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Types – Natural Information

INTELLIGENCE provided, a PERSON is informed by

» The sign looms large especially in our information

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

» Digital information is not like other

» Digital information is not subject to the

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

» Blend of economics of information and

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

» We must understand the unbundling/separation

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

» Richness – quality of information, accuracy,

» Reach – number of people who participate

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

» Need to reduce the richness/reach tradeoff, make

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

» Enabling new levels of richness and reach

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

» Emergence of new business models

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

» New opportunities for physical business

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

» Follows deconstruction/disintermediation using new

» Navigators/infomediaries (see below) have emerged

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

– Rich about the consumer

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Primary Efficiency Effectiveness Strategic Strategic Value creation

Justify IT ROI Increasing Competitive Competitive Adding

Target of Organization Individual manager/ Business Business processes Customer,

Information Application Data-driven User-driven Business-driven Knowledge-

Dominant Mainframe- Minicomputer-based Microcomputer Client-Server Internet

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

Basis of Value Scarcity Scarcity Scarcity Plentitude Plentitude

Underlying Economic of Economic of Economic of Economic of Economic of

Information | OSIS Lecture 2 | Joseph Budu, PhD 03-Feb-21

» Borgmann, A. (1999). Holding on to Reality: The Nature of

Describe the organisation