Chapter 1

An Introduction to Information Systems

 Principles and Learning Objectives
• The value of information is directly linked to how it
helps decision makers achieve the organization’s
goals
– Discuss why it is important to study and understand
information systems
– Distinguish data from information and describe the
characteristics used to evaluate the value of data
 Principles and Learning Objectives
(continued)
• Computers and information systems help make it
possible for organizations to improve the way they
conduct business
– Name the components of an information system and
describe several system characteristics
 Principles and Learning Objectives
(continued)
• Knowing the potential impact of information
systems and having the ability to put this
knowledge to work can result in a successful
personal career and in organizations that reach
their goals
– List the components of a computer-based
information system
– Identify the basic types of business information
systems and discuss who uses them, how they are
used, and what kinds of benefits they deliver
 Principles and Learning Objectives
(continued)
• System users, business managers, and
information systems professionals must work
together to build a successful information system
– Identify the major steps of the systems development
process and state the goal of each
 Principles and Learning Objectives
(continued)
• Information systems must be applied thoughtfully
and carefully so that society, businesses, and
industries can reap their enormous benefits
– Describe some of the threats that information
systems and the Internet can pose to security and
privacy
– Discuss the expanding role and benefits of
information systems in business and industry
 Why Learn About Information
Systems?
• Information systems used by:
– Sales representatives
– Managers
– Financial advisors
• Information systems:
– Indispensable tools to help you achieve your career
goals
 Introduction
• Information system (IS):
– A set of interrelated components that collect,
manipulate, and disseminate data and information
and provide feedback to meet an objective
• Businesses:
– Can use information systems to increase revenues
and reduce costs
 Information Concepts
• Information:
– One of an organization’s most valuable resources
– Often confused with the term data
 Data, Information, and Knowledge
• Data:
– Raw facts
• Information:
– Collection of facts organized in such a way that they
have value beyond the facts themselves
• Process:
– Set of logically related tasks
• Knowledge:
– Awareness and understanding of a set of information
Data, Information, and Knowledge
(continued)
Data, Information, and Knowledge
(continued)
Data, Information, and Knowledge
(continued)
 The Characteristics of Valuable
Information
• If an organization’s information is not accurate or
complete:
– People can make poor decisions, costing thousands,
or even millions, of dollars
• Depending on the type of data you need:
– Some characteristics become more important than
others
The Characteristics of Valuable
Information (continued)
 The Value of Information
• Directly linked to how it helps decision makers
achieve their organization’s goals
• Valuable information:
– Can help people and their organizations perform
tasks more efficiently and effectively
 System Concepts
• System:
– Set of elements or components that interact to
accomplish goals
• Components of a system:
– Inputs
– Processing mechanisms
– Outputs
– Feedback
System Concepts (continued)
 System Performance and Standards
• Efficiency:
– Measure of what is produced divided by what is
consumed
• Effectiveness:
– Measure of the extent to which a system attains its
goals
• System performance standard:
– Specific objective of the system
System Performance and Standards
(continued)
System Performance and Standards
(continued)
 What is an Information System?
• Information system (IS) is a set of interrelated
elements that:
– Collect (input)
– Manipulate (process)
– Store
– Disseminate (output) data and information
– Provide a corrective reaction (feedback mechanism)
to meet an objective
What is an Information System?
(continued)
 Input, Processing, Output, Feedback
• Input:
– Activity of gathering and capturing raw data
• Processing:
– Converting data into useful outputs
• Output:
– Production of useful information, usually in the form
of documents and reports
• Feedback:
– Information from the system that is used to make
changes to input or processing activities
Manual and Computerized Information
Systems
• An information system can be:
– Manual or computerized
• Example:
– Investment analysts manually draw charts and trend
lines to assist them in making investment decisions
• Computerized information systems:
– Follow stock indexes and markets and suggest when
large blocks of stocks should be purchased or sold
Computer-Based Information Systems
• Single set of hardware, software, databases,
telecommunications, people, and procedures:
– That are configured to collect, manipulate, store, and
process data into information
• Technology infrastructure:
– Includes all hardware, software, databases,
telecommunications, people, and procedures
• Configured to collect, manipulate, store, and process
data into information
Computer-Based Information Systems
(continued)
Computer-Based Information Systems
(continued)
• Hardware:
– Consists of computer equipment used to perform
input, processing, and output activities
• Software:
– Consists of the computer programs that govern the
operation of the computer
• Database:
– Organized collection of facts and information,
typically consisting of two or more related data files
Computer-Based Information Systems
(continued)
• Telecommunications, networks, and the Internet
– The electronic transmission of signals for
communications
• Networks
– Connect computers and equipment to enable
electronic communication
• Internet
– World’s largest computer network, consisting of
thousands of interconnected networks, all freely
exchanging information
Computer-Based Information Systems
(continued)
• Intranet:
– Internal network that allows people within an
organization to exchange information and work on
projects
• Extranet:
– Network that allows selected outsiders, such as
business partners and customers, to access
authorized resources of a company’s intranet
Computer-Based Information Systems
(continued)
• People:
– The most important element in most computer-
based information systems
• Procedures:
– Include strategies, policies, methods, and rules for
using the CBIS
 Business Information Systems
• Most common types of information systems:
– Those designed for electronic and mobile
commerce, transaction processing, management
information, and decision support
• Some organizations employ:
– Special-purpose systems, such as virtual reality, that
not every organization uses
Business Information Systems
(continued)
Business Information Systems
(continued)
 Electronic and Mobile Commerce
• E-commerce:
– Any business transaction executed electronically
between:
• Companies (business-to-business, B2B)
• Companies and consumers (business-to-consumer,
B2C)
• Consumers and other consumers (consumer-to-
consumer, C2C)
• Business and the public sector
• Consumers and the public sector
 Electronic and Mobile Commerce
(continued)
• Mobile commerce (m-commerce):
– The use of mobile, wireless devices to place orders
and conduct business
• E-commerce:
– Can enhance a company’s stock prices and market
value
• Electronic business (e-business):
– Uses information systems and the Internet to
perform all business-related tasks and functions
Electronic and Mobile Commerce
(continued)
 Enterprise Systems: Transaction
Processing Systems and Enterprise
Resource Planning
• Transaction:
– Any business-related exchange, such as payments
to employees and sales to customers
• Transaction processing system (TPS):
– Organized collection of people, procedures,
software, databases, and devices used to record
completed business transactions
 Enterprise Systems: Transaction
Processing Systems and Enterprise
Resource Planning (continued)
 Enterprise Systems: Transaction
Processing Systems and Enterprise
Resource Planning (continued)
• Enterprise resource planning:
– Set of integrated programs that:
• Manages the vital business operations for an entire
multisite, global organization
– Most systems provide integrated software to support
manufacturing and finance
 Information and Decision Support
Systems
• Management information system (MIS):
– Organized collection of people, procedures,
software, databases, and devices that:
• Provides routine information to managers and
decision makers
Information and Decision Support
Systems (continued)
 Information and Decision Support
Systems (continued)
• Decision support system (DSS):
– Organized collection of people, procedures,
software, databases, and devices that support
problem-specific decision making
– Used when problem is complex and information
needed to determine appropriate action is difficult to
obtain
Information and Decision Support
Systems (continued)
 Specialized Business Information
Systems: Knowledge Management,
Artificial Intelligence, Expert Systems,
and Virtual Reality
• Knowledge management systems (KMSs):
– Organized collection of people, procedures,
software, databases, and devices to:
• Create, store, share, and use the organization’s
knowledge and experience
• Artificial intelligence (AI):
– Computer system takes on characteristics of human
intelligence
Specialized Business Information
Systems (continued)
 Specialized Business Information
Systems (continued)
• Expert systems:
– Give computer ability to make suggestions and
function like an expert in a particular field
• Virtual reality:
– Simulation of a real or imagined environment that
can be experienced visually in three dimensions
 Systems Development
• Systems development:
– The activity of creating or modifying existing
business systems
• Outsourcing:
– Allows a company to focus on what it does best and
delegate other functions to companies with expertise
in systems development
Systems Development (continued)
 Systems Investigation and Analysis
• Goal of systems investigation:
– To gain clear understanding of the problem to be
solved or opportunity to be addressed
• Systems analysis:
– Defines the problems and opportunities of the
existing system
Systems Design, Implementation, and
Maintenance and Review
• Systems design:
– Determines how new system will work to meet
business needs defined during systems analysis
• Systems implementation:
– Acquiring various system components defined in
design step, assembling them, and putting the new
system into operation
• Systems maintenance and review:
– Checks and modifies the system so that it continues
to meet changing business needs
 Information Systems in Society,
Business, and Industry
• Information systems:
– Have been developed to meet the needs of all types
of organizations and people
– Speed and widespread use opens users to a variety
of threats from unethical people
Security, Privacy, and Ethical Issues in
Information Systems and the Internet
• Drawbacks of information systems:
– Personal data, including Social Security and credit
card numbers, can be lost or stolen
• To protect against threats to your privacy and data:
– Install security and control measures
• Use of information systems:
– Raises work concerns, including job loss through
increased efficiency
 Computer and Information Systems
Literacy
• Computer literacy:
– Knowledge of computer systems and equipment and
the ways they function
• Information systems literacy:
– Knowledge of how data and information are used by
individuals, groups, and organizations
Information Systems in the Functional
Areas of Business
• Functional areas and operating divisions of
business:
– Finance and accounting
– Sales and marketing
– Manufacturing
– Human resource management
– Legal information systems
 Information Systems in Industry
• Industries:
– Airline industry
– Investment firms
– Banks
– Transportation industry
– Publishing companies

Information Systems, Tenth Edition

 Information Systems in Industry
(continued)
• Industries (continued):
– Healthcare maintenance organizations (HMOs)
– Retail companies
– Power management and utility companies
– Professional services
– Management consulting firms
 Global Challenges in Information
Systems
• Cultural challenges
• Language challenges
• Time and distance challenges
• Infrastructure challenges
• Currency challenges
 Global Challenges in Information
Systems (continued)
• Product and service challenges
• Technology transfer issues
• State, regional, and national laws
• Trade agreements
 Summary
• Data:
– Raw facts
• System:
– Set of elements that interact to accomplish a goal
• Components of an information system:
– Input, processing, output, and feedback
• Components of a computer-based information
system (CBIS) include:
– Hardware, software, databases, telecommunications
and the Internet, people, and procedures
 Summary (continued)
• E-commerce involves:
– Any business transaction executed electronically
between parties such as companies (business-to-
business), companies and consumers (business-to-
consumer), business and the public sector, and
consumers and the public sector
• Transaction processing system (TPS):
– Handles the large volume of business transactions
that occur daily within an organization
 Summary (continued)
• Decision support system (DSS):
– Organized collection of people, procedures,
software, databases, and devices that help make
problem-specific decisions
• Systems development:
– Creating or modifying existing business systems
• Computer and information systems literacy:
– Prerequisites for numerous job opportunities, not
only in the IS field