Learning
for "What are information systems?"
In this
piece of learning, we will cover some of the issues with information and
information systems. We will do this by:
What
are information systems?
We refer
to computerised information management systems as information systems. In fact we have had IS for quite a long time
and in defining an information system we can not exclude the manual
systems. It is feasible to say that no
business can function without an effective IS. Constituent parts of IS may well
be technology or machines that are used such as computers, abacus and filing
systems. In fact any computerised
equipment or connection that are used to acquire, store, retrieve, present,
manage and control information are of this type.
You could
also argue that another part of the system are the methods that are used within
a system and examples of these may be the different methods that can be used to
store information say in alphabetical order or by location or methods for the
collection of data. Yet another
constituent part of the system may well be the people that use the system or
operate the system. For example there
may be a level of expertise without which it is impractical for system to
function.
Applications
of information systems could include systems that students use to enrol, system
that consumers use to look for a particular product at Amazon and financial
system that the University uses to pay its employees.
Changes
to the Business environment
There are
a number of factors that have emerged over the past decade or two. These factors have effected the business
environment in a way that can not be ignored.
These are
Emergence
of global economy
Multi-national
Businesses have always depended on imports and exports. Traditionally these have been in the form of
products. For example it was not unusual
for the American Ford Motor Company to purchase tyres from the Swedish Nokia
tyre company.
It is the
extent to which this type of activity has grown that prompts discussion under
the general term of Globolisation in that a substantial proportion of advanced
economies in the Western world in particular now depend on global activities and
international collaborative programmes.
Core business functions such as product design and manufacturing are
carried out in collaboration with business partners and through out-sourcing.
Furthermore,
in this time and era we do not draw distinctions between products and
services. Services are seen as products
and vice versa. Globalisation also
encompasses services that partner organisations provide and this may not have
been the case in the past. If it is more
economical to outsource services, companies seem to opt for outsourcing. Some of these services are also core business
activities such as customer care and services and after sales support. We now see a tendency for multinationals to
use services of other companies that are based in other countries usually to
take advantage of technical expertise, economical potentials and gains. For example we may have been helped by
Gujarat-based customer services department of British Telecom.
The
important point is to recognise the role that information plays to enable these
activities on global scale. For
instance, usually customer services at BT are contacted when there is a problem
with the service or billing. In order to
serve the customer effectively the Gujarat-based operator requires information. Furthermore, the operator requires analysing
the information. Information systems
provide the communication and the analytic power that is required for the
management of the process.
Another
dimension to globalisation is the ample amount of information about the
products and services that are available to the consumers and ease by which
this information are accessible through the use of telecommunication and the
Internet. Globalisation and Information Technology brings in new entrants into
the industry. Major consequences of this
are that important factors of the market environment such as customer loyalty,
market share and product price are affected.
There are also the threats of new entrants to the forum. If there are alternative products for lower
prices but of the same performance attributes, these products could attract a
large proportion of the market volume.
These factors prompt the firm to become a competitive player in global
scale. Information and communication
systems play a major role in helping the firm achieve this.
Transformation
towards Information economy
There has
been a trend to in particular transfer manufacturing industry from the
industrial and developed countries (mostly in the west) to where lower wages
and more liberal regulations and working conditions are enforced (typically
countries in south-east Asia and Indian sub-continent). To some extent this is also referred to as
globalisation but if we take a different slant at this, you could explain this
through changes that are taking place in the industrial economies and a
transformation of these economies from a product manufacturing industry to one
of service-based market. This
transformation is not new and it has been taking place for over a century. Throughout the 20th century we have observed
a continuous increase in service industries such as banking, financial
services, legal services, insurance and healthcare. These are examples of services that
service-based companies provide business organisations. At the same time the growth in these service
based economy has been compounded with the reduction in farming and migration
of farmers to the industrial jobs.
There has
also been a transformation of organisational assets and resources from tangible
equity to intangible riches. Traditionally organisational assets consisted of
capital, land, property, machinery, inventory and tools. Organisational resources were referred to raw
material and labour. However, in this
new service-based economy information and knowledge are considered to be
primary resources. Furthermore, in
knowledge-based economy market worth and value of many organisations is
measured by the intangible assets such as intellectual property, more intelligent
business methods and strength of brand.
Traditional manufacturing industries are also using knowledge as a
primary resource. Good examples are the
automation of business processes, effective scheduling of production and more
intelligent and timely procurement of raw material. For instance in automotive industry,
warehousing is reduced and almost eliminated through tight integration with
suppliers through provision of information. In order to achieve this there is
increasing tendency to invest in information technology and corporate
information systems.
Transformation
of the enterprise
The
traditional shape of the organisation has been highly hierarchical with a
relatively high number of middle management layers. Attributes of such organisations can be
stated as:
Development
in information technology and telecommunication networks have prompted the
organisation to take advantage of possibilities that use of technology offers
and rethink their business processes and management of the work force. The new style of organisation can be
exemplified by the following characteristics:
Use of
information and technology enables the management to employ knowledge and
learning to enable commissioning of decision making to the work force.
In order
to appreciate the nature of digital firm you need to consider business
functions of the organisation. The use of technology, knowledge and information
compounded with the transformed enterprise has created the conditions for
working differently - the emergence of digital firm. In a digital firm all core business processes
such as human resource management, Intellectual property management and
management of financial assets are done electronically through the use of information
systems and communication technology.
Attributes of digital firm are;