Terminology and Most Important Things Flashcards
Six major objectives of IS
- operational excellence
- new products, services, and business models
- customer/supplier intimacy
- improved decision making
- competitive advantage
- (day-to-day) survival
Information Systems
technical perspective, an IS collects, stores, and distributes information from an organization’s environment to support organisational functions, decision making, communication, coordination, control, analysis, and visualisation
technical approach to IS
computer science, management science, operations research
behavioral approach to IS
psychology, sociology, economics
sociotechnical view of systems
considers both technical and social features of a system
What is new in managing IS?
- IT innovations (IoT, cloud computing, big data, etc.)
- New Business Models (e.g. Netflix)
- E-commerce expansion
- Management changes (going mobile, remote, etc.)
- Changes in firms (less hierarchy, flattened)
Generative AI
a type of AI that can create new content and ideas, including conversations, stories, images, videos, and music
- information output can be incorrect even though it sounds correct called: hallucinating
- danger of Deepfakes
Globalization
- jobs move across borders
- IS expanding rapidly
- customers shop worldwide
Digital Firm
- nearly all important business operations and relationship are accomplished digitally or through digital networks
Six major objectives of IS
- operational excellency
- new products, services, business models
- customer/supplier intimacy
- improved decision making
- competitive advantage
- (day to day) survival
Functions of an IS
- input (collects raw data)
- processing (make raw data into usable information)
- output (distribute meaningful information)
What are the three management levels of an organisation?
- Senior management (makes executive decisions, makes long-term strategic decisions)
- Middle management (execute tasks and goals -> reduced through IS)
- Operational management (execution of day-to-day operations such as f.e. payroll)
Business process
- logically related set of activities
- IS automate parts of business processes
Transaction processing system (TPS)
- serves operational management
- track the flow of daily tasks/routines
- payroll etc.
Management Information Systems (MIS)
- serves middle management
- produces reports based on TPS
- have little analytical value
Decision-support system (DSS)
- support management decision making
- use internal information from TPS & MIS
Executive support system (ESS)
- serves senior management
- shows data, information via digital dashboard
Enterprise applications
- coordinate multiple functions and business processes
- integrate key business processes into a single software
- SCM, CRM, KMS
Supply chain management (SCM)
- helps firms manage relationship w suppliers to optimise, sourcing, manufacturing, and delivery
Customer relationship management (CRM)
- coordinate business processes to surrounding firm’s customers
Knowledge management system
- enables firms to optimise the creation, sharing, and distribution of knowledge
Collaboration
working with others to achieve shared and explicit goals
- often receive better result than when done alone (wisdom of crowds)
Social business
is the use of internal and external social networking platforms to further engage employees, customers, and suppliers
Business Intelligence (BI)
term for for data and software tools for organising, analysing, and providing access to data to help decision making
Time/Space collaboration and social tool matrix
- same time/same place: face-to-face interactions
- same time/different place: remote interactions (video calls)
- different time/same place: continuous task (project management)
- different time/different place: communication & coordination (e-mails)
IS and organisations influence each other through
- environment
- culture
- structure
- business processes
- politics
- management decisions
Technical microeconomic view of the organization
- social structure that processes resources from the environment to produce outputs
- how inputs are combined to create outputs
Behavioral view of the organization
- emphasizes people, relationships, values, culture
- basically the environment
Disruptive technologies
sweeps away the systems or habits it replaces because it has attributes that are recognizably superior
- streaming over purchasing f.e.
Flattening Organizations
- IS can reduce the number of levels (management levels)
- providing managers with information to supervise larger number of employees
- giving lower-level employees more decision-making authority
Resistance to change/organizational resistance
- if implementation of IS fails, it is often not the technology but the resistance to change organisationally or politically
Porter’s Competitive Five Forces Model
strategic position of the firm is not only determined by it’s immediate
- competitors
but also
- Substitute products
- new-market entrants
- suppliers
- customers
Strategies for dealing with the five forces (Porter)
- Low Cost leadership (lower price than competitor: LIDL)
- Product Differentiation (Tesla; innovative, electric cars)
- Focus on niche market (making food products vegan)
- Strengthen customer-supplier intimacy
Value chain model
Primary and support activities of a firm along the value chain
- suppliers’ suppliers
- suppliers
- firm
- distributors
- customers
Ethics
principles of right and wrong
- core values integrated into corporate culture at best
- IS raise new ethical questions
Five moral dimensions
- information rights and obligations
- property rights and obligations
- system quality
- quality of life
- accountability and control
Technology trends that raise ethical issues
- computing power doubles every 18 months (Moore’s Law)
- data storage costs rapidly decline; more data available on you (Law of Mass Digital Storage)
- mobile device tracking
Advances in data analysis techniques
- profiling: combine data from multiple sources to create detailed information
- NORA (non-obvious relationship awareness): combining data from different sources to find obscure, non-obvious relationships (applicant shares same phone number as known criminal)
Basic concepts of ethical IS
- Responsibility (accept costs, duties, obligations)
- Accountability (who is responsible)
- Liability (cover damages done)
- Due process (law applied correctly)
5 step ethical analysis
a. identify and clearly describe the facts (who is involved, what do they do)
b. define the conflict or dilemma and identify the higher order values
c. identify the stakeholders
d. identify the options that you can reasonably take
e. identify the potential consequences of your options
Golden rule
do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative
if an action is not good for everyone, it is not good for anyone
Slippery slope rule
if an action cannot be done repeatedly it should be done at all
Utilitarian principle
always strive for the action that generates the highest value outcome
Risk aversion principle
take the action that produces the least harm
Ethical “no free lunch” rule
assume that virtually all tangible and intangible objects are owned by someone unless there is a specific declaration otherwise