I V Y V I D A L L O N

P R E S E N T E R

Using Advanced InformationTechnology to Increase Performance

Information and the Manager’s Job

Data

Raw, unsummarized, and unanalyzed facts.

Information

Data that are organized in a meaningful fashion

Attributes of Useful Information

Attributes

Quality The accuracy and reliability of available information affects the quality of decisions that managers make using the information.

Timeliness The availability of real-time information that reflects current conditions

Completeness Complete information allows managers to exercise control, achieve coordination, or make an effective decision

Relevance Having information that suits a manager’s particular needs and circumstances assists managers in making better decisions.

Factors Affecting the Usefulness of Information

Figure 18.1

What is Information Technology?

Information Technology

set of methods or techniques for acquiring, organizing, storing, manipulating, and transmitting information

Management Information System

specific form of IT that managers utilize to generate the specific, detailed information they need to perform their roles effectively

What is Information Technology?

Managers need information for three reasons:

1. To make effective decisions

2. To control the activities of the organization

3. To coordinate the activities of the organization

Information and Control

Managers achieve control by:

1. Establishing measurable goals

2. Measuring actual performance

3. Comparing actual performance with goals

4. Evaluating results and taking any corrective action

The Effects of Advancing IT

IT helps create new product opportunities that managers and their organizations can take advantage of

IT creates new and improved products that reduce or destroy demand for older, established products

Computer Networks

Network

Interlinked computers that exchange information.

Servers are powerful computers that relay information to client computers connected on a Local Area Network (LAN).

Types of Management Information Systems

Operating system software

software that tells computer hardware how to run

Applications software

software designed for a specific task or use

Types of Information Systems

Transaction Processing Systems

A management information system designed to handle large volumes of routine, recurring transactions.

Were the first computer-based information systems handling billing, payroll, and supplier payments.

Types of Information Systems

Operations Information Systems

A management information system that gathers, organizes, and summarizes comprehensive data in a form that managers can use in their nonroutine coordinating, controlling, and decision-making tasks.

Can help managers with non-routine decisions such as customer service and productivity.

Types of Information Systems

Executive Support System

A sophisticated version of a decision support system that is designed to meet the needs of top managers.

Group Decision Support System

An executive support system that links top managers so that they can function as a team.

Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence

Behavior by a machine that, if performed by a human being, would be called “intelligent”

Already possible to write programs that can solve problems and perform simple tasks

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

Multi-module application software packages that coordinate the functional activities necessary to move products from the design stage to the final customer stage.

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

1. Help each individual function improve its functional-level skills

2. Improve integration among all functions so that they work together to build a competitive advantage for the company

Types of Information Systems

E-Commerce Systems

Trade that takes place between companies, and between companies and individual customers, using IT and the Internet

Types of E-Commerce

Figure 18.5

E-Commerce Systems

Business-to-business (B2B)

trade that takes place between companies using IT and the Internet to link and coordinate the value chains of different companies

B2B marketplace

Internet-based trading platform set up to connect buyers and sellers in an industry

E-Commerce Systems

Business-to-customer (B2C)

trade that takes place between a company and individual customers using IT and the Internet

Strategic Alliances, B2B Network Structures, and IT

B2B network structure

A series of global strategic alliances that an organization creates with suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors to produce and market a product.

Flatter Structures and HorizontalInformation Flows

Boundaryless Organization

An organization whose members are linked by computers, faxes, computer-aided design systems, and video teleconferencing and who rarely, if ever, see one another face-to-face.