Chapter 1
Managers:
Key to
Information
Technology
Results
IS2184: Information Systems Management
Textbook:
Information Technology for Managers
George W. Reynolds
Strayer University
Learning Objectives
• Why must managers understand critical principles
of IT system development and provide leadership
for these projects?
• Am I prepared to get involved with IT at the
appropriate times and on appropriate issues?
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
2
Why Managers Must Understand IT
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website, in whole or in part.
3
Need for Managers to Understand IT
• Managers:
– Frame opportunities and threats for others to
understand
– Prioritize problems and evaluate solutions
– Define IT policies that best meet organizational
needs
– Make many decisions when implementing a new IT
solution
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
4
Need for Managers to Understand IT
(continued 1)
• Gains in productivity
– Require innovative business practices to be
automated using IT capabilities
• Sustainable competitive advantage can be
achieved from information gained through IT
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website, in whole or in part.
5
What is Informational Technology?
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website, in whole or in part.
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Information Technology
• All tools that capture, store, process, exchange,
and use information
• Includes:
– Computer hardware
– Software
– Networks and related equipment
– Databases
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
7
Information Technology (continued 1)
• IT infrastructure: Organization’s defined set of IT
hardware, software, and networks
• IT organization: Staff of people to plan,
implement, operate, and support IT
• Information systems: Enable a firm to meet
fundamental objectives
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
8
Figure 1.1 - IT Infrastructure Supports Personal,
Group, and Enterprise Information Systems
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
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Personal IT
• Information systems that improve the productivity
of individual users in performing stand-alone tasks
• Personal productivity software
– Word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet
software
• Decision support system (DSS)
– Employs analytic models to help users:
• Gain insights into a problem situation
• Examine alternative solutions
• Recommend an appropriate course of action
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
10
Personal IT (continued 1)
• Online learning systems: Encompass a number
of computer-enhanced learning techniques
– Computer based-simulations
– Multimedia DVDs
– Web-based learning materials
– Hypermedia
– Podcasts
– Webcasts
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
11
Group IT
• Information systems that improve communications
and support collaboration among members of a
workgroup
• Web conferencing: Uses IT to conduct meetings
in which participants are connected via the Internet
• Wiki: Web site that allows users to edit and change
its content easily and rapidly
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
12
Group IT (continued 1)
• Electronic corporate directories
– Used in large organizations to find the right person
with whom to collaborate on an issue or opportunity
– Bluepages—IBM’s Facebook for the enterprise
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
13
Enterprise IT
• Information systems used to define interactions
among employees and/or with external customers,
suppliers, and other business partners
• Transaction processing system (TPS): Captures
data from company transactions and other events
– Updates the firm’s records, which are maintained in
electronic files or databases
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
14
Figure 1.2 - Transaction Processing
System
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website, in whole or in part.
15
Enterprise IT (continued 1)
• Enterprise systems: Support an organization’s
operation and planning functions
– Enable the sharing of information across all business
functions and all levels of management
– Types
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
• Customer relationship management (CRM)
• Product life cycle management (PLM)
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
16
Enterprise IT (continued 2)
• Interorganizational information systems
– Support the flow of data among organizations to
achieve shared goals
– Expedite the flow of materials, payments, and
information
– Organizations should agree on the nature and
format of information to be exchanged
– Compatible technologies must be used
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
17
Figure 1.4 - Walmart Interorganization
System
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website, in whole or in part.
18
The Role of Managers Vis-À-Vis IT
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Critical Responsibilities of Managers
Associated with IT
• Identifying appropriate opportunities to apply IT
• Smoothing the way for its successful introduction
and adoption
• Mitigating its associated risks
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website, in whole or in part.
20
Identifying Appropriate IT Opportunities
• Effective users maximize their value from IT
investments that are aligned with the strategic
needs of the organization
• Opportunities must be evaluated against existing
business needs
• Managers must frame the opportunities for others
to understand
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website, in whole or in part.
21
Smooth Introduction and Adoption of IT
• Managers must overcome the resistance to change
– Ensure that the new IT system is accepted and used
throughout the organization
• Change Management Continuum Model
– Describes key activities needed to build commitment
for change
– Offers a roadmap to guide management actions at
each stage of introducing a new system
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
22
Table 1.3 - Four Reasons People
Resist Change
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
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Table 1.4 - Phases and Stages of the
Change Management Continuum Model
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website, in whole or in part.
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Smooth Introduction and Adoption of IT
(continued 1)
• Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of
Technology
– Identifies key factors that directly determine a user’s
acceptance and usage of IT
• Usefulness
• Ease of use
• Management expectations
• Facilitating conditions
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
25
Smooth Introduction and Adoption of IT
(continued 2)
• Diffusion of Innovation Theory
– Developed by E.M. Rogers
– Explains how a new idea or product gains
acceptance and diffuses in an organization
• Senior management encourages adoption of
enterprise IT by threatening penalties for
nonconformance
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
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Figure 1.6 - Diffusion of Innovation
Model
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
27
Ensuring That IT Risks are Mitigated
• Data assets must be secure from unwanted
intrusion, loss, and alteration
• Personal data must be secured to protect individual
privacy rights
• In case of a disaster, business continuity plans
must be in place
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
28
Ensuring That IT Risks are Mitigated
(continued 1)
• Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
– Requires that all reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission include:
• Statement signed by the CEO and CFO, attesting the
accuracy of the information contained in the reports
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
29
Table 1.7 - Examples of IT Risks
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website, in whole or in part.
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What if Managers Do Not Participate
in IT Projects?
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IT Projects Without Manager’s
Participation
• Lead to failed projects with wasted time and effort
• Proper involvement by managers is required to
obtain lasting value from investments
• Involvement of managers should be throughout the
project and not intermittently
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
32
Overview of Remaining Text
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website, in whole or in part.
33
Overview of Remaining Text
(continued 1)
• Chapter 2, Strategic Planning
– Develop effective strategic planning
– Define key business objectives and goals
– Apply them to multifunctional teams to identify a
portfolio of potential business projects
• Chapter 3, Project Management
– Provides a helpful overview of the project
management process
– Identifies frequent causes of project failure and
offers suggestions for how to avoid problems
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
34
Overview of Remaining Text
(continued 2)
• Chapter 4, Business Process and IT Outsourcing
– Discusses the major business reasons for
outsourcing
– Identifies many issues and potential pitfalls
• Chapter 5, Corporate and IT Governance
– Describes the responsibilities and practices that a
company’s executive management uses to:
• Ensure delivery of real value from IT
• Ensure that related risks are managed appropriately
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
35
Overview of Remaining Text
(continued 3)
• Chapter 6, Collaboration Tools (partially covered)
– Fundamentals of electronic communications
systems
– Focus on conferencing, desktop sharing, enterprise
content management, enterprise social networks,
shared workspace, Web conferencing, and wikis
– Benefits and disadvantages of various collaboration
tools
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
36
Overview of Remaining Text
(continued 4)
• Chapter 7, E-Commerce
– Use of electronic business methods
– Covers mobile-commerce and prepares managers to
understand the business, legal, and ethical issues
associated with e-commerce
• Chapter 8, Enterprise Systems
– Identifies several of the benefits associated with
enterprise system implementation
– Role of managers in successfully implementing
enterprise systems
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
37
Overview of Remaining Text
(continued 5)
• Chapter 9, Business Intelligence and Big Data
– Introduces a wide range of applications that help
businesses in analyzing data to improve decision
making
– Defines big data and analytics and discusses the
complications associated with it
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
38
Overview of Remaining Text
(continued 6)
• Chapter 10, Knowledge Management
– How organizations use knowledge management to
identify, select, organize, and disseminate important
information that is part of the organization’s memory
– How to identify and overcome knowledge
management challenges
• Chapter 11, Cybercrime and IT Security (partially covered)
– Discusses the motivation of cybercrime and
cybercriminals
– Presents overall strategy for implementing
trustworthy computing
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
39
Overview of Remaining Text
(continued 7)
• Chapter 12, Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues of
Information Technology
– Provides a brief overview of ethics
– Identifies key legal and social issues that managers
need to keep in mind while using IT to achieve
organizational benefits
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
40
Summary
• Managers have three critical responsibilities when
it comes to IT
– Identifying appropriate opportunities to apply IT
– Smoothing the way for its successful introduction
and adoption
– Mitigating its associated risks
• Most effective users of IT obtain maximum value
from IT investments that:
– Align with the organization’s strategic needs
– Are well managed and executed
Information Technology for Managers
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website, in whole or in part.
41
Summary (continued 1)
• Organizational compliments that allow IT to
improve performance
– Better-skilled workers
– Higher levels of teamwork
– Redesigned processes and new decision rights
• Theories that help smooth the introduction of IT
– Change Management Continuum Model
– Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of
Technology
– Diffusion of Innovation Theory
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website, in whole or in part.
42