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Chapter 0. Introduction

Managing and Using Information Systems: A Strategic Approach

by Keri PearlsonPowerPoint Slides prepared by Gene Mesher

Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Copyright John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation of this work beyond that named in Section 117 of the United States Copyright Act without the express written consent of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for further information should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Adopters of the textbook are granted permission to make back-up copies for their own use only, to make copies for distribution to students of the course the textbook is used in, and to modify this material to best suit their instructional needs. Under no circumstances can copies be made for resale. The Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or damages, caused by the use of these programs or from the use of the information contained herein.

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THE CASE FOR PARTICIPATING IN DECISIONS ABOUT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

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Why Managers Need to Participate in IS Decisions

“Dialogue among managers routinely crosses all business functions in formal as well as informal settings, with one general exception: IS. Management continues to tolerate ignorance in this area relative to other specialized business functions. Culturally, managers can claim ignorance of IS issues without losing prestige among colleagues. On the other hand, admitting a lack of knowledge regarding marketing or financial aspects of the business will earn colleagues contempt.” (Pearlson, p.2)

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Why Managers Need to Participate: A Business View

US companies spending $6,000 per employee on IT, use is growing exponentially.

Managers must decide how best to use these funds.

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People and Technology Work Together…

Incorporating IT into a business enables people to focus on customer satisfaction and other revenue and profit-generating activities.

Skilled business managers must balance costs associated with changing existing workplace behaviors.

Issues include why or why not adopt new technology and when to replace people with technology.

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Rapid Change in Technology

Rapid Change in Technology means: A rapidly changing business environment. Competitors are coming from unexpected

places. New business opportunities are coming

with little advanced warning.Managers must develop an information

model to discuss specific issues with co-workers, customers and others.

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The Case for Participating in Decisions about IS

What if a Manager Doesn’t Participate? Profits = Revenue – Expenses. Decisions

about IS have a direct impact on business profits.

Not considering IT business & organizational strategy leads to one of three consequences:

1. IS that fail to support business goals 2. IS the fail to support organizational

systems 3. A misalignment between bus. and org.

strategies

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The Case for Participating in Decisions about IS

Information Systems Must Support Business Goals IT is a major investment but poorly

planned systems can result in Customer dissatisfaction Excessive production costs Delays in meetings business goals

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Info Systems Must Support Organizational Systems

Organizational systems: the people, work processes, structure and plan that enable these to work together

If IS fails to support organizational systemsResources and goals are poorly aligned

because technology gets deployed without careful thinking about how it will be used

E.g., implementing systems without trainingOr setting up an ERP without thinking about

current work practices

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WHAT SKILLS ARE NEEDED TO PARTCIPATE EFFECTIVELY IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DECISIONS?

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Participating in IS Decisions

Focus on business solutionsCuriosityCreativityProject ManagementCommunicationInterpersonal skillsAnalytical skillsOrganizational skillsPlanning skillsFlexibility

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BASIC ASSUMPTIONS

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Classic Management Model (Stoner)

Managers engage in the following activities to meet corporate goals:

Planning: think in advance about goals and actions. Actions use a method, plan or logic.

Organizing: coordinating and directing human and material resources to reach corporate goals.

Leading: lead others and create environment to help subordinates do their best.

Controlling: attempt to assure the organization is moving towards its goal, including keeping the organization on track.

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Managerial Roles(cf. Mintzberg 1973)

Formal Authority and Status

Interpersonal Figurehead

LeaderLiaison

Informational Roles Monitor

DisseminatorSpokesman

Decisional RolesEntrepreneur

Disturbance handlerResource allocator

Negotiator

Model used to describethe chaotic nature ofthe environment in whichmanagers actually work.

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Functional View of the Firm

INFO

FLOWS

ACCTNG

OPS

MKTNG

SALES

Executive Management

Info flows vertically up between line positions and mgmt. After analysis is flows across to other functions.Functional view is used when similar activities are being explained, Coordinated, communicated or executed.

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Porter’s Value Chain Model of the Firm

Firm InfrastructureHuman Resource Mgmt.

Technology DevelopmentProcurement

InboundLogistics

Operations OutboundLogistics

Marketing& Sales

Service

Margin

Margin

Process view: used when examining the flow of information through a business.

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Information Ecology (Davenport)

Data

Simple Observations

of the world:

Easily structured

Easily captured on machines

Often quantified

Easily transferred

Information

Data endowed with

relevance & purpose:

Requires unit of analysis

Need consensus on the meaning

Human mediation necessary

Knowledge

Info. from the mind includes reflection, context, synthesis:

Hard to structure

Difficult to capture on machines

Often tacit

Hard to transfer

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Information Ecology

Data = simple observationsInformation = data endowed with

relevance and purpose. Knowledge = information that has been

situationalized and contextualized to provide value.

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System Hierarchy

Information Systems

Management

People Technology Process

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System Hierarchy

Infrastructure = hardware, software, data and network

Architecture means strategy Information System = combination of

people, process which facilitates the communication of data, information and knowledge through an organization

Management monitors overall performance, develops business requirements and business strategy. IS needs to meet this strategy.

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End of Chapter 0