CHAPTER 1

BUSINESS DRIVEN TECHNOLOGY

Learning Outcomes:

•  Compare management information systems (MIS) and information technology (IT)
• Describe the relationships among people, information technology, and information 
• Identify 4 different departments in a typical business an explain how technology helps them to work together
• Compare the 4 different types of organizational information cultures and decide which culture applies to your school

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY'S IMPACT ON BUSINESS OPERATIONS


Business Functions Receiving the Greatest Benefits from Information Technology

Information Technology's Project Goals

 
Common Departments In An Organization

• Organizations typically operate by functional areas or functional silos
• Functional areas are interdependent



Information Technology Basics

• Information Technology (IT) - a field concerned with the use of technology in managing and processing information
• Information technology is an important enabler of business success and innovation
• Management information systems (MIS) - a general name for the business function and academic discipline covering the application of people, technologies and procedures to solve business problems
• MIS is a business function, similar to Accounting, Finance, Operations, and Human Resources
• When beginning to learn about information technology it is important to understand 

                 * Data, Information, and Business Intelligence
                 * IT Resources
                 * IT Cultures


Data, Information, and BI

• Data - raw facts that describe the characteristics of an event

• Information - data converted into a meaningful and useful context

• Business Intelligence - applications and technologies that are used to support decision making efforts

• For example, if you were building a system to track students :

               * Data might include height, name, and hair color
              * Information might include student to professor ratio, percentage of marketing majors who                    are female, number of students who pass the course

• If you were building a system to track inventory :

               * Data might include chair manufacturer, chair color, and chair size
               * Information might include number of chairs required for students in each class, average                       number of chairs needed to be replaced each semester

• IT Resources
  

           # People use
           # Information Technology to work with
          # Information

• IT Cultures

         Organizational information cultures include: 

1. Information-Functional Culture

Employees use information as a means of exercising influence or power over others. 

2. Information-Sharing Cultures

Employees across departments trust each other to use information to improve performance. 

3. Information-Inquiring Culture

Employees across departments search for information to better understand the future and align themselves with current trends and new directions.

4. Information-Discovery Culture

Employees across departments are open to new insights about crisis and radical changes and seek ways to create competitive advantages.