Chapter 1myresource.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/CIS105r3/Introduction_to... · 4 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Information Systems Then, in January 2012, Barnes & Noble warned analysts

Chapter

[ LEARNING OBJECTIVES ] [ CHAPTER OUTLINE ] [ WEB RESOURCES ]

1. Identify the reasons why being an informed user of information systems is important in today’s world.

2. Describe the various types of computer-based information systems in an organization.

3. Discuss ways in which information technology can affect managers and nonmanagerial workers.

4. Identify positive and negative societal effects of the increased use of information technology.

1.1 Why Should I Study Information Systems?

1.2 Overview of Computer-Based Information Systems

1.3 How Does IT Impact Organizations?

1.4 Importance of Information Systems to Society

Introduction to Information Systems

1

• Student PowerPoints for note taking

• E-book

• Author video lecture for each chapter section

• Practice quizzes

• Flash Cards for vocabulary review

• Additional “IT’s About Business” cases

• Video interviews with managers

• Lab Manuals for Microsoft Offi ce 2010 and 2013

C013G.indd 2C013G.indd 2 05/09/13 8:23 AM05/09/13 8:23 AM

3

[ Today, Every

Company Is a

Technology Company ]

The Business Problem

Sixty years into the computer revolution, 40 years into the age of the microprocessor, and 20 years into the rise of the modern Internet, all of the technology required to transform industries through software has been developed and integrated and can be delivered globally. Billions of people now access the Internet via broadband con-

nections. Worldwide, more than 5 billion people use cell phones. Of those users, 1 billion have smartphones that provide them with instant access to the Internet at all times from multiple locations.

In addition, software programming tools and Internet-based services allow companies in many industries to launch new software-powered startups without investing in new infrastruc-ture or training new employees. For example, in 2000, operating a basic Internet application cost businesses approximately $150,000 per month. Today, operating that same application in Amazon’s cloud (we discuss cloud computing in detail in Technology Guide 3) costs about $1,000 per month.

In essence, software is disrupting every industry, and every organization must prepare for this disruption. Numerous companies have attempted to meet the disruption challenge: Some have succeeded and some have failed.

Software DisruptionsLet’s look at examples of software disruption across several industries. Many of these examples focus on two scenarios: (1) industries where software disrupted the previous market-leading companies and (2) industries where a new company (or companies) used software to achieve a competitive advantage.

• The book industry: A dramatic example of software disruption is the fate of Borders book-store. In 2001, Borders agreed to hand over its online business to Amazon because the bookstore was convinced that online book sales were nonstrategic and unimportant. Ten years later, Borders fi led for bankruptcy. That same year, the www.borders.com Web site was replaced with a redirect link to the Barnes & Noble Web site (www.bn.com).

What’s In Me?ITForT h i s C h a p t e r W i l l H e l p P r e p a r e Y o u T o …

MKTACCT FIN POM HRM MIS

ACCOUNTING

Forecast revenues

FINANCE

Determine best sources for funds

MARKETING

Develop new goods and

services

PRODUCTION OPERATIONS

MANAGEMENT

Process customer orders

HUMAN RESOURCES

MANAGEMENT

Hire new employees

MIS

Directly support all functional

areas

What’s In Me?ITFor

MIS


4 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Information Systems

Then, in January 2012, Barnes & Noble warned analysts that it would lose twice as much money in 2012 as it had previously predicted. On April 30, 2012, the bookstore entered into a partnership with Microsoft that will spin off the Nook and college businesses into a subsidiary.

Today, the world’s largest bookseller, Amazon, is a software company. Its core capability is its software engine, which can sell virtually anything online without building or main-taining any retail stores. Amazon has even reorganized its Web site to promote its Kindle digital books over physical books. (In August 2012, Amazon announced that it sold more electronic books than hardback books and paperback books combined.) Now, even the books themselves are software products.

• The music industry: As with publishing, today’s dominant music companies are software companies: Apple’s iTunes (www.apple.com/itunes), Spotify (www.spotify.com), and Pan-dora (www.pandora.com). Traditional record labels now exist largely to provide those soft-ware companies with content. In mid-2013, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) continues to fi ght battles over copyright infringement and the illegal download and sharing of digital music fi les.

• The video industry: Blockbuster—which rented and sold videos and ancillary products through its chain of stores—was the industry leader until it was disrupted by a software com-pany, Netfl ix (www.netfl ix.com). In mid-2013, Netfl ix has the largest subscriber base of any video service with some 33 million subscribers. Meanwhile, Blockbuster declared bank-ruptcy in February 2011 and was acquired by satellite television provider Dish Networks in March 2011.

• The software industry: Incumbent software companies such as Oracle and Microsoft are increasingly threatened by software-as-a-service products (e.g., Salesforce.com) and Android, an open-source operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance (www.openhandsetalliance.com). (We discuss operating systems in Technology Guide 2 and software-as-a-service in Technology Guide 3.)

• The videogame industry: Today, the fastest-growing entertainment companies are video-game makers—again, software. Examples are

° Zynga (www.zynga.com), which makes FarmVille, delivers its games entirely online.

° Rovio (www.rovio.com), the maker of Angry Birds, made almost $195 million in 2012. The company was nearly bankrupt when it launched Angry Birds on the iPhone in late 2009.

° Minecraft (www.minecraft.net), another video game delivered exclusively over the Internet, was fi rst released in 2009. By January 2013, more than 20 million people had downloaded it. Interestingly, the creator of Minecraft, Markus Persson, has never spent any money to market his game. Instead, sales resulted entirely from word of mouth.

• The photography industry: This industry was disrupted by software years ago. Today it is virtually impossible to buy a mobile phone that does not include a software-powered camera. In addition, people can upload photos automatically to the Internet for per-manent archiving and global sharing. The leading photography companies include Shutterfl y (www.shutterfl y.com), Snapfi sh (www.snapfi sh.com), Flickr (www.fl ickr.com), and Instagram (www.instagram.com). Meanwhile, the long-time market leader, Kodak—whose name was almost synonymous with cameras—declared bankruptcy in January 2012.

° Each day people upload more than 350 million digital photos just to Facebook. Snap-chat (www.snapchat.com) is a smartphone app that enables users to send a photo (or video) to someone and have it “self-destruct” within seconds. Snapchat users are now sharing more than 100 million “snaps” daily.

• The marketing industry: Today’s largest direct marketing companies include Facebook (www.facebook.com), Google (www.google.com), Groupon (www.groupon.com), Living Social (www.livingsocial.com), and Foursquare (www.foursquare.com). All of these com-panies are using software to disrupt the retail marketing industry.


5CASE

• The recruiting industry: LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is a fast-growing company that is disrupting the traditional job recruiting industry. For the fi rst time, employees and job searchers can maintain their own resumes on LinkedIn for recruiters to search in real time.

• The fi nancial services industry: Software has transformed the fi nancial services industry. Practically every fi nancial transaction is now performed by software. Also, many of the lead-ing innovators in fi nancial services are software companies. For example, Square (https://squareup.com) allows anyone to accept credit card payments with a mobile phone.

• Fundraising: In early 2013, Joel Silver and Rob Thomas, the producers of Veronica Mars, a feature fi lm, used Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) to raise money to produce the fi lm. They achieved their goal of $2 million in just 10 hours. Kickstarter takes a 5 percent cut of every transaction.

• Genomics: Illumina (www.illumina.com) has reduced the cost of sequencing a human genome from more $1 million in 2007 to $4,000 in 2013. Illumina’s technology has helped medical researchers develop cancer drugs that target specifi c genetic mutations that can cause cancer.

• The motion picture industry: Making feature-length computer-generated fi lms has become incredibly IT intensive. Studios require state-of-the-art information technologies, includ-ing massive numbers of servers (described in Technology Guide 1), sophisticated software (described in Technology Guide 2), and an enormous amount of storage (described in Technology Guide 1).

Consider DreamWorks Animation (www.dreamworksanimation.com), a motion picture studio that creates animated feature fi lms, television programs, and online virtual worlds. The studio has released 26 feature fi lms, including the franchises of Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon. By late 2012, its feature fi lms had grossed more than $10 billion globally.

For a single motion picture such as The Croods, the studio manages more than 500,000 fi les and 300 terabytes (a terabyte is 1 trillion bytes) of data, and it uses about 80 million central processing unit (CPU; described in Technology Guide 1) hours. As DreamWorks executives state, “In reality, our product is data that looks like a movie. We are a digital manufacturing company.”

Software is also disrupting industries that operate primarily in the physical world. Consider the following examples:

• The automobile industry: In modern cars, software is responsible for running the engines, controlling safety features, entertaining passengers, guiding drivers to their destinations, and connecting the car to mobile, satellite, and GPS networks. Other software functions in modern cars include Wi-Fi receivers, which turn your car into a mobile hot spot; software, which helps maximize fuel effi ciency; and ultrasonic sensors, which enable some models to parallel-park automatically.

The next step is to network all vehicles together, a necessary step toward driverless cars. The creation of software-powered driverless cars is already being undertaken at Google as well as several major car companies.

• The logistics industry: Today’s leading real-world retailer, Walmart, uses software to power its logistics and distribution capabilities. This technology has enabled Walmart to become dominant in its industry.

• The postal industry: FedEx, which early in its history adopted the view that “the information about the package is as important as the package itself,” now employs hundreds of develop-ers who build and deploy software products for 350,000 customer sites to help customers with their mailing and shipping needs.

• The oil and gas industry: Companies in this industry were early innovators in supercom-puting and data visualization and analysis, which are critically important to oil and gas exploration efforts.



• The agriculture industry: Agriculture is increasingly powered by software, including satellite analysis of soils linked to per-acre seed selection software algorithms. In addition, precision agriculture makes use of automated, driverless tractors controlled by global positioning systems and software.

• National defense: Even national defense is increasingly software based. The modern com-bat soldier is embedded in a web of software that provides intelligence, communications, logistics, and weapons guidance. Software-powered drone aircraft launch airstrikes without placing human pilots at risk. (We discuss drone technology later in the chapter.) Intelli-gence agencies perform large-scale data mining with software to uncover and track poten-tial terrorist plots.

• The retail industry: Women have long “borrowed” special-occasion dresses from depart-ment stores, buying them and then returning them after one night wearing them. Now, Rent the Runway (www.renttherunway.com) has redefi ned the fashion business, making expensive clothing available to more women than ever before. The fi rm is also disrupting traditional physical retailers. After all, why buy a dress when you can rent one for a very low price? Some department stores feel so threatened by Rent the Runway that they have reportedly told vendors that they will pull fl oor merchandise if it ever shows up on that company’s Web site.

Rent the Runway employs 200 people, including one of the nation’s largest dry-cleaning operations. Their Web site has more than 3 million members, and it features 35,000 dresses and 7,000 accessories created by 170 designers.

• Education: College graduates owe approximately $1 trillion in student debt, a crippling burden for many recent graduates. UniversityNow (www.unow.com) was founded to make college more accessible to working adults by offering online, self-paced degrees. Two key characteristics distinguish UniversityNow from an increasing number of rivals: (1) very low fees (as little as $2,600, which includes tuition and books for as many courses students can complete in one year) and (2) fully accredited degrees, from an associate’s degree to an M.B.A.

• The legal profession: Today, electronic discovery (e-discovery) software applications can ana-lyze documents in a fraction of the time that human lawyers would take, at a fraction of the cost. For example, Blackstone Discovery (www.blackstonediscovery.com) helped one company analyze 1.5 million documents for less than $100,000. That company estimated that the process would have cost $1.5 million if performed by lawyers.

E-discovery applications go beyond simply fi nding documents rapidly using relevant terms. They can also extract relevant concepts, even in the absence of specifi c terms, and they can deduce peoples’ patterns of behavior that would have eluded lawyers examining millions of documents. These applications can also analyze documents for information pertaining to the activities and interactions of people—who did what and when, and who talked to whom.

The ResultsClearly, then, an increasing number of major businesses and industries are being run on soft-ware and delivered as online services—from motion pictures to agriculture to national defense. Regardless of the industry, companies face constant competitive threats from both established rivals and entrepreneurial technology companies that are developing disruptive software. These threats will force companies to become more agile and to respond to competitive threats more quickly, effi ciently, and effectively.

Sources: Compiled from C. Howard, M. Noer, and T. Post, “Disruptors,” Forbes, April 15, 2013; S. Mendelson, “Can Fox and DreamWorks Combined Challenge Disney’s Animation Empire?” Forbes, April 10, 2013; S. Greengard, “DreamWorks Takes a Picture-Perfect Approach to IT,” Baseline Magazine, April 1, 2013; M. K. Rodriguez, “Traditional vs. Disruptive Tech: What’s Best for Your Business?” Amadeus Consulting White Paper, February 28, 2013; S. Noonoo, “How Disruptive Technolo-gies Are Leading the Next Great Education Revolution,” T.H.E. Journal, January 16, 2013; De La Merced, “Eastman Kodak


7CASE

Files for Bankruptcy,” The Wall Street Journal, January 19, 2012; J. Trachtenberg and M. Peers, “Barnes & Noble Seeks Next Chapter,” The Wall Street Journal, January 6, 2012; “Driverless Car: Google Awarded U.S. Patent for Technology,” BBC News, December 15, 2011; J. McKendrick, “Five Non-IT Companies That Are Now Indistinguishable from Software Companies,” ZDNet, December 7, 2011; A. Bleicher, “Five Reasons Every Company Should Act Like a Software Startup,” Forbes, No-vember 14, 2011; B. Austen, “The End of Borders and the Future of Books,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, November 10, 2011; M. Andreessen, “Why Software Is Eating the World,” The Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2011; J. Knee, “Why Content Isn’t King,” The Atlantic, July/August, 2011; J. Checkler and J. Trachtenberg, “Bookseller Borders Begins a New Chapter...11,” The Wall Street Journal, February 17, 2011.

Questions

1. If every company is now a technology company, then what does this mean for the com-pany’s employees? Provide specifi c examples to support your answer.

2. If every company is now a technology company, then what does this mean for every student attending a business college? Provide specifi c examples to support your answer.

What We Learned from This CaseThe chapter-opening case illustrates that the impacts of information technology are wide-ranging, global, and disruptive. You will encounter many other examples of the societal and environmental effects of information technology throughout this text. The opening case underscores how important it is for you to have an understanding of information technology, regardless of your career choice.

Before we proceed, we need to defi ne information technology and information systems. Information technology (IT) refers to any computer-based tool that people use to work with information and to support the information and information-processing needs of an organiza-tion. An information system (IS) collects, processes, stores, analyzes, and disseminates infor-mation for a specifi c purpose.

The opening case is a dramatic example of the far-reaching effects of IT on individuals, organizations, and our planet. Although this text is largely devoted to the many ways in which IT has transformed modern organizations, you will also learn about the signifi cant impacts of IT on individuals and societies, the global economy, and our physical environment. In addi-tion, IT is making our world smaller, enabling more and more people to communicate, col-laborate, and compete, thereby leveling the digital playing fi eld.

When you graduate, you either will start your own business or you will work for an organi-zation, whether it is public sector, private sector, for-profi t, or not-for-profi t. Your organization will have to survive and compete in an environment that has been radically transformed by information technology. This environment is global, massively interconnected, intensely com-petitive, 24/7/365, real-time, rapidly changing, and information-intensive. To compete success-fully, your organization must use IT effectively.

As you read this chapter and this text, keep in mind that the information technologies you will learn about are important to businesses of all sizes. No matter what area of business you major in, what industry you work for, or the size of your company, you will benefi t from learn-ing about IT. Who knows? Maybe you will use the tools you learn about in this class to make your great idea a reality!

The modern environment is intensely competitive not only for your organization, but for you as well. You must compete with human talent from around the world. Therefore, you will also have to make effective use of IT.

Accordingly, this chapter begins with a discussion of why you should become knowledge-able about IT. It also distinguishes among data, information, and knowledge, and it differenti-ates computer-based information systems from application programs. Finally, it considers the impacts of information systems on organizations and on society in general.

As you see in IT’s About [Small] Business 1.1, small business owners do not need to be experts in information technology to be successful. The core competency of Warby Parker’s business is not technology. Rather, the company’s business model is its core competency. How-ever, the fi rm is effectively using IT to support its business model and, thus, to create a suc-cessful business.



Why Should I Study Information Systems?You are part of the most connected generation in history: You have grown up online; you are, quite literally, never out of touch; you use more information technologies (in the form of digi-tal devices), for more tasks, and are bombarded with more information, than any generation in history. The MIT Technology Review refers to you as Homo conexus. Information technologies are so deeply embedded in your lives that your daily routines would be almost unrecognizable to a college student just 20 years ago.

1.1

MKT

IT’s about [small] business

Warby Parker (www.warbyparker.com) is an online eyewear

retailer that was founded in 2010. The idea for the company was

conceived when the fi rm’s founders (MBA students at the time)

observed that glasses—uncomplicated, easily breakable, and

mass-produced—were typically quite expensive ($500 or more,

for example). Signifi cantly, the founders were convinced they

knew the reason why glasses cost so much. They perceived the

optical industry as an oligopoly, meaning that a small number of

companies dominate the business and are making large margins.

Consider, for example, Luxottica (www.luxottica.com), based

in Milan, Italy. This company owns LensCrafters, Pearle Vision,

Sunglass Hut, Ray-Ban, Oakley, and Oliver Peoples, in addition to

the optical shops in Target and Sears. In addition, as a result of a

series of license agreements, Luxottica manufactures eyewear for

more than 20 top brands, including Chanel, Burberry, Prada, and

Stella McCartney. Warby Parker’s founders realized that Luxottica

had “created the illusion of choice,” when in fact they practically

monopolized the industry.

Warby Parker devised a strategy to compete with Luxottica.

The company uses the same materials and the same Chinese

factories as Luxottica. It then sells its glasses at a lower price

because it does not have to pay licensing fees, which can amount

to as much as 15 percent of the $100 wholesale cost of a pair of

glasses. In addition, because Warby Parker markets and sells its

products directly to its customers, it does not have to deal with

retailers, whose markups can double prices.

Warby Parker’s business model allows customers to test the

company’s retro-style glasses via a mail-order, try-it-at-home pro-

gram. The glasses (including prescription lenses) cost a mere $95,

and customers may test up to fi ve frames at a time. In addition, the

Warby Parker Web site enables shoppers to upload photos and

“try on” frames virtually. Such large-scale individualized shopping

experiences have attracted a devoted following among young,

trendy professionals. This business model has made the fi rm a

commercial success.

By mid-2013, Warby Parker had sold more than 100,000 pairs

of glasses. The company raised $1.5 million from investors in

May 2011, and in 2012 it raised an additional $37 million. It has

113 employees, and it opened a 2,500-square-foot store in New

York City.

In addition to enjoying great commercial success, Warby

Parker has a social mission. For every pair of glasses it sells, it pro-

vides subsidies to help someone in need to buy a pair—although

not one of Warby’s creations.

The company’s success is inspiring competition from more

established eyeglass retailers. For example, discount fashion

site Bluefl y (www.bluefl y.com) has introduced Eyefl y (www.eyefl y

.com), which sells custom, vintage-looking glasses for $99.

Another competitor is Ditto (www.ditto.com), where shoppers

use a computer webcam to record a video of their faces and cre-

ate a virtual, three-dimensional “you.” Then, shoppers can virtu-

ally try on different frames, look side to side, and blink. They can

also solicit feedback from friends on Facebook by sharing shots of

their virtual selves wearing different frames.

Google wants to avoid making users of its Google Glass prod-

uct look like an actor in a science fi ction movie. As a result, the

company is working with Warby Parker to design more fashion-

able frames for Google Glass.

Sources: Compiled from S. Rodriguez, “Google in Talks with Warby Parker

for Its Glasses,” The Los Angeles Times, February 21, 2013; D. Primack,

“Warby Parker Raises $37 Million,” CNN Money, September 9, 2012; A.

Pack, “Warby Parker’s Vision for Growth,” CNBC, June 11, 2012; L. Sanders,

“Ditto Lets You Try on Glasses via Webcam,” San Francisco Chronicle, April

27, 2012; D. Muse, “The New Startup Scene: From Silicon Strip to Silicon

Mitten,” Forbes, December 19, 2011; S. Berfi eld, “A Startup’s New Prescrip-

tion for Eyewear,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, July 4–10, 2011; D. Mau, “Warby

Parker vs. Eyefl y,” Fashionista, June 6, 2011; H. Elliot, “The New Model for

Retail: Buying Glasses Online,” Forbes, January 17, 2011; N. Perlroth, “Name

You Need to Know in 2011: Warby Parker,” Forbes, November 22, 2010;

www.warbyparker.com, www.eyefl y.com, accessed February 18, 2013.

Questions1. Provide two examples of how Warby Parker uses information

technology to support its business model.

2. How might Warby Parker further use information technology

to counter large competitors who want to copy their business

model? Be specifi c.

1.1 Warby Parker


9SECTION 1.1 Why Should I Study Information Systems?

Essentially, you practice continuous computing, surrounded by a movable information net-work. This network is created by constant cooperation between the digital devices you carry (e.g., laptops, media players, and smartphones); the wired and wireless networks that you access as you move about; and Web-based tools for fi nding information and communicating and collaborating with other people. Your network enables you to pull information about virtu-ally anything from anywhere, at any time, and to push your own ideas back to the Web, from wherever you are, via a mobile device. Think of everything you do online, often with your smart phone: register for classes; take classes (and not just at your university); access class syl-labi, information, PowerPoints, and lectures; research class papers and presentations; conduct banking; pay your bills; research, shop, and buy products from companies or other people; sell your “stuff”; search for, and apply for, jobs; make your travel reservations (hotel, airline, rental car); create your own blog and post your own podcasts and videocasts to it; design your own page on Facebook; make and upload videos to YouTube; take, edit, and print your own digital photographs; “burn” your own custom-music CDs and DVDs; use RSS feeds to create your personal electronic newspaper; text and tweet your friends and family throughout your day; and many other activities. (Note: If any of these terms are unfamiliar to you, don’t worry. You will learn about everything mentioned here in detail later in this text.)

The Informed User—You!So, the question is: Why you should learn about information systems and information technol-ogies? After all, you can comfortably use a computer (or other electronic devices) to perform many activities, you have been surfi ng the Web for years, and you feel confi dent that you can manage any IT application that your organization’s MIS department installs.

The answer lies in your becoming an informed user; that is, a person knowledgeable about information systems and information technology. There are several reasons why you should be an informed user.

In general, informed users tend to get more value from whatever technologies they use. You will enjoy many benefi ts from being an informed user of IT.

• First, you will benefi t more from your organization’s IT applications because you will understand what is “behind” those applications (see Figure 1.1). That is, what you see on your computer screen is brought to you by your MIS department, who are operating “behind” your screen.

• Second, you will be in a position to enhance the quality of your organization’s IT applica-tions with your input.

• Third, even as a new graduate, you will quickly be in a position to recommend—and per-haps help select—the IT applications that your organization will use.

• Fourth, being an informed user will keep you abreast of both new information technolo-gies and rapid developments in existing technologies. Remaining “on top of things” will help you to anticipate the impacts that “new and improved” technologies will have on your organization and to make recommendations on the adoption and use of these technologies.

• Fifth, you will understand how using IT can improve your organization’s performance and teamwork as well as your own productivity.

• Finally, if you have ideas of becoming an entrepreneur, then being an informed user will help you use IT when you start your own business.

Going further, managing the IS function within an organization is no longer the exclu-sive responsibility of the IS department. Rather, users now play key roles in every step of this process. The overall objective in this text is to provide you with the necessary information to contribute immediately to managing the IS function in your organization. In short, the goal is to help you become a very informed user!

IT Offers Career OpportunitiesBecause information technology is vital to the operation of modern businesses, it offers many employment opportunities. The demand for traditional IT staff—programmers, business



analysts, systems analysts, and designers—is substantial. In addition, many well-paid jobs exist in areas such as the Internet and electronic commerce (e-commerce), mobile commerce (m-commerce), network security, telecommunications, and multimedia design.

The information systems fi eld includes the people in various organizations who design and build information systems, the people who use those systems, and the people responsible for managing those systems. At the top of the list is the chief information offi cer (CIO).

The CIO is the executive who is in charge of the IS function. In most modern organi-zations, the CIO works with the chief executive offi cer (CEO), the chief fi nancial offi cer (CFO), and other senior executives. Therefore, he or she actively participates in the organiza-tion’s strategic planning process. In today’s digital environment, the IS function has become increasingly strategic within organizations. As a result, although most CIOs still rise from the IS department, a growing number are coming up through the ranks in the business units (e.g., marketing, fi nance, etc.). So, regardless of your major, you could become the CIO of your organization one day. This is another reason to be an informed user of information systems!

Table 1.1 provides a list of IT jobs, along with a description of each one. For further details about careers in IT, see www.computerworld.com/careertopics/careers and www.monster.com.

Career opportunities in IS are strong and are projected to remain strong over the next ten years. In fact, the U.S. News & World Report and Money magazines listed their “100 top jobs” for 2012, and Forbes magazine listed its “10 top jobs” for 2013. Let’s take a look at these rankings. (Note that the rankings differ because the magazines used different criteria in their research.) As you can see, jobs suited for MIS majors rank extremely high in all three lists. The magazines with their job rankings are:

Forbes#1 Software developer#4 Systems analyst#6 Network and systems administrator

U.S. News & World Report#4 Computer systems analyst#6 Database administrator

USERS

@ Slaomir Fajer/iStockphoto

MISFIGURE 1.1 IT skills open many doors because IT is so widely used. What do you think is this woman’s job?



Table 1.1Information Technology Jobs

Position Job Description

Chief Information Offi cer Highest-ranking IS manager; is responsible for all strategic planning in the

organization

IS Director Manages all systems throughout the organization and the day-to-day

operations of the entire IS organization

Information Center Manager Manages IS services such as help desks, hot lines, training, and consulting

Applications Development Manager Coordinates and manages new systems development projects

Project Manager Manages a particular new systems development project

Systems Manager Manages a particular existing system

Operations Manager Supervises the day-to-day operations of the data and/or computer center

Programming Manager Coordinates all applications programming efforts

Systems Analyst Interfaces between users and programmers; determines information

requirements and technical specifi cations for new applications

Business Analyst Focuses on designing solutions for business problems; interfaces closely

with users to demonstrate how IT can be used innovatively

Systems Programmer Creates the computer code for developing new systems software or

maintaining existing systems software

Applications Programmer Creates the computer code for developing new applications or maintaining

existing applications

Emerging Technologies Manager Forecasts technology trends; evaluates and experiments with new

technologies

Network Manager Coordinates and manages the organization’s voice and data networks

Database Administrator Manages the organization’s databases and oversees the use of database-

management software

Auditing or Computer Security Manager Oversees the ethical and legal use of information systems

Webmaster Manages the organization’s World Wide Web site

Web Designer Creates World Wide Web sites and pages

#7 Software developer#9 Web developer#20 IT manager

Money#3 Software architect#5 Database administrator#9 Software developer#13 IT consultant#21 Systems administrator#28 IT business analyst



Not only do IS careers offer strong job growth, but the pay is excellent as well. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, an agency within the Department of Labor that is responsible for tracking and analyzing trends relating to the labor market, notes that the median salary in 2013 for “computer and information systems managers” is approximately $115,000.

Managing Information ResourcesManaging information systems in modern organizations is a diffi cult, complex task. Several factors contribute to this complexity. First, information systems have enormous strategic value to organizations. Firms rely on them so heavily that, in some cases, when these systems are not working (even for a short time), the fi rm cannot function. (This situation is called “being hostage to information systems.”) Second, information systems are very expensive to acquire, operate, and maintain.

A third factor contributing to the diffi culty in managing information systems is the evolu-tion of the management information systems (MIS) function within the organization. When businesses fi rst began to use computers in the early 1950s, the MIS department “owned” the only computing resource in the organization, the mainframe. At that time, end users did not interact directly with the mainframe.

In contrast, in the modern organization, computers are located in all departments, and almost all employees use computers in their work. This situation, known as end user com-puting, has led to a partnership between the MIS department and the end users. The MIS department now acts as more of a consultant to end users, viewing them as customers. In fact, the main function of the MIS department is to use IT to solve end users’ business problems.

As a result of these developments, the responsibility for managing information resources is now divided between the MIS department and the end users. This arrangement raises several important questions: Which resources are managed by whom? What is the role of the MIS department, its structure, and its place within the organization? What is the appropriate relationship between the MIS department and the end users? Regardless of who is doing what, it is essential that the MIS department and the end users work in close cooperation.

There is no standard way to divide responsibility for developing and maintaining informa-tion resources between the MIS department and the end users. Instead, that division depends on several factors: the size and nature of the organization, the amount and type of IT resources, the organization’s attitudes toward computing, the attitudes of top management toward com-puting, the maturity level of the technology, the amount and nature of outsourced IT work, and even the countries in which the company operates. Generally speaking, the MIS depart-ment is responsible for corporate-level and shared resources, and the end users are responsible for departmental resources. Table 1.2 identifi es both the traditional functions and various new, consultative functions of the MIS department.

So, where do the end users come in? Take a close look at Table 1.2. Under the traditional MIS functions, you will see two functions for which you provide vital input: managing systems development, and infrastructure planning. Under the consultative MIS functions, in contrast, you exercise the primary responsibility for each function, while the MIS department acts as your advisor.



Traditional Functions of the MIS Department

• Managing systems development and systems project management

° As an end user, you will have critical input into the systems development process. You will learn about systems

development in Chapter 13.

• Managing computer operations, including the computer center

• Staffi ng, training, and developing IS skills

• Providing technical services

• Infrastructure planning, development, and control

° As an end user, you will provide critical input about the IS infrastructure needs of your department.

New (Consultative) Functions of the MIS Department

• Initiating and designing specifi c strategic information systems

° As an end user, your information needs will often mandate the development of new strategic information

systems.

° You will decide which strategic systems you need (because you know your business needs better than the MIS

department does), and you will provide input into developing these systems.

• Incorporating the Internet and electronic commerce into the business

° As an end user, you will be primarily responsible for effectively using the Internet and electronic commerce in your

business. You will work with the MIS department to accomplish this task.

• Managing system integration including the Internet, intranets, and extranets

° As an end user, your business needs will determine how you want to use the Internet, your corporate intranets,

and extranets to accomplish your goals. You will be primarily responsible for advising the MIS department on the

most effective use of the Internet, your corporate intranets, and extranets.

• Educating the non-MIS managers about IT

° Your department will be primarily responsible for advising the MIS department on how best to educate and train

your employees about IT.

• Educating the MIS staff about the business

° Communication between the MIS department and the business units is a two-way street. You will be responsible

for educating the MIS staff on your business, its needs, and its goals.

• Partnering with business-unit executives

° Essentially, you will be in a partnership with the MIS department. You will be responsible for seeing that this

partnership is one “between equals” and ensuring its success.

• Managing outsourcing

° Outsourcing is driven by business needs. Therefore, the outsourcing decision resides largely with the business

units (i.e., with you). The MIS department, working closely with you, will advise you on technical issues such as

communications bandwidth, security, etc.

• Proactively using business and technical knowledge to seed innovative ideas about IT

° Your business needs often will drive innovative ideas about how to effectively use information systems to

accomplish your goals. The best way to bring these innovative uses of IS to life is to partner closely with your MIS

department. Such close partnerships have amazing synergies!

• Creating business alliances with business partners

° The needs of your business unit will drive these alliances, typically along your supply chain. Again, your

MIS department will act as your advisor on various issues, including hardware and software compatibility,

implementing extranets, communications, and security.

Table 1.2The Changing Role of the Information Systems Department



Overview of Computer-Based Information SystemsOrganizations refer to their management information systems functional area by several names, including the MIS Department, the Information Systems (IS) Department, the Information Technology Department, and the Information Services Department. Regardless of the name, however, this functional area deals with the planning for—and the development, manage-ment, and use of—information technology tools to help people perform all the tasks related to information processing and management. Recall that information technology relates to any computer-based tool that people use to work with information and to support the information and information processing needs of an organization.

As previously stated, an information system collects, processes, stores, analyzes, and dissemi-nates information for a specifi c purpose. The purpose of information systems has been defi ned as getting the right information to the right people, at the right time, in the right amount, and in the right format. Because information systems are intended to supply useful information, we need to differentiate between information and two closely related terms: data and knowledge (see Figure 1.2).

Data items refer to an elementary description of things, events, activities, and transactions that are recorded, classifi ed, and stored but are not organized to convey any specifi c meaning. Data items can be numbers, letters, fi gures, sounds, and images. Examples of data items are col-lections of numbers (e.g., 3.11, 2.96, 3.95, 1.99, 2.08) and characters (e.g., B, A, C, A, B, D, F, C).

Information refers to data that have been organized so that they have meaning and value to the recipient. For example, a grade point average (GPA) by itself is data, but a student’s name

1.2

FIGURE 1.2 Binary Code, the foundation of information and knowledge, is the key to making complex decisions.


15SECTION 1.2 Overview of Computer-Based Information Systems

coupled with his or her GPA is information. The recipient interprets the meaning and draws conclusions and implications from the information. Consider the examples of data provided in the preceding paragraph. Within the context of a university, the numbers could be grade point averages, and the letters could be grades in an Introduction to MIS class.

Knowledge consists of data and/or information that have been organized and processed to convey understanding, experience, accumulated learning, and expertise as they apply to a current business problem. For example, suppose that a company recruiting at your school has found over time that students with grade point averages over 3.0 have experienced the greatest success in its management program. Based on this accumulated knowledge, that company may decide to interview only those students with GPAs over 3.0. This example presents an example of knowledge because the company utilizes information—GPAs—to address a business problem—hiring successful employees. As you can see from this example, organizational knowledge, which refl ects the experience and expertise of many people, has great value to all employees.

Consider this example:

Data Information Knowledge

[No context] [University context]

3.16

2.92

1.39

3.95

3.16 + John Jones = GPA

2.92 + Sue Smith = GPA

1.39 + Kyle Owens = GPA

3.95 + Tom Elias = GPA

* Job prospects

* Graduate school prospects

* Scholarship prospects

[No context] [Professional baseball pitcher context]

3.16

2.92

1.39

3.95

3.16 + Ken Rice = ERA

2.92 + Ed Dyas = ERA

1.39 + Hugh Carr = ERA

3.95 + Nick Ford = ERA

* Keep pitcher, trade pitcher, or

send pitcher to minor leagues

* Salary/contract negotiations

GPA = grade point average (higher is better)

ERA = earned run average (lower is better); ERA is the number of runs per nine innings that a

pitcher surrenders

You see that the same data items, with no context, can mean entirely different things in different contexts.

Now that you have a clearer understanding of data, information, and knowledge, let’s shift our focus to computer-based information systems. As you have seen, these systems process data into information and knowledge that you can use.

A computer-based information system (CBIS) is an information system that uses computer technology to perform some or all of its intended tasks. Although not all information systems are computerized, today most are. For this reason the term “information system” is typically used synonymously with “computer-based information system.” The basic components of computer-based information systems are listed below. The fi rst four are called information technology components. Figure 1.3 illustrates how these four components interact to form a CBIS.

• Hardware consists of devices such as the processor, monitor, keyboard, and printer. Together, these devices accept, process, and display data and information.

• Software is a program or collection of programs that enable the hardware to process data.• A database is a collection of related fi les or tables containing data.• A network is a connecting system (wireline or wireless) that permits different computers to

share resources.



• Procedures are the instructions for combining the above components to process informa-tion and generate the desired output.

• People are those individuals who use the hardware and software, interface with it, or utilize its output.

Figure 1.4 illustrates how these components are integrated to form the wide variety of infor-mation systems found within an organization. Starting at the bottom of the fi gure, you see

Database

NetworkSoftware

Computer-basedinformation system

Procedures

Procedures Procedures

Procedures

©Oleksiy Mark/iStockphoto

©Dzianis Kazlouski/iStockphoto©Alex Slobodkin/iStockphoto

©Alex Slobodkin/iStockphoto

©Blend_Images / iStockphoto

Hardware

FIGURE 1.3 It takes technology (hardware, software, databases, and networks) with appropriate procedures to make a CBIS useful for people.

IT Personnel

IT Components

Pro

du

ctio

n/O

per

atio

ns

Man

agem

ent

IS

Hu

man

Res

ou

rces

IS

Mar

keti

ng

IS

Fin

ance

IS

Acc

ou

nti

ng

IS

IT In

fras

tru

ctu

re

IT ServicesTransaction Processing Systems

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

IT Platform

Business Intelligence SystemsDashboards

FIGURE 1.4 Information technology inside your organization.



that the IT components of hardware, software, networks (wireline and wireless), and databases form the information technology platform. IT personnel use these components to develop information systems, oversee security and risk, and manage data. These activities cumulatively are called information technology services. The IT components plus IT services comprise the organization’s information technology infrastructure. At the top of the pyramid are the vari-ous organizational information systems.

Computer-based information systems have many capabilities. Table 1.3 summarizes the most important ones.

Information systems perform these various tasks via a wide spectrum of applications. An application (or app) is a computer program designed to support a specifi c task or business process. (A synonymous term is application program.) Each functional area or department within a business organization uses dozens of application programs. For instance, the human resources department sometimes uses one application for screening job applicants and another for monitoring employee turnover. The collection of application programs in a single depart-ment is usually referred to as a departmental information system (also known as a functional area information system). For example, the collection of application programs in the human resources area is called the human resources information system (HRIS). There are collections of application programs—that is, departmental information systems—in the other functional areas as well, such as accounting, fi nance, marketing, and production/operations.

Types of Computer-Based Information SystemsModern organizations employ many different types of information systems. Figure 1.4 illus-trates the different types of information systems that function within a single organization, and Figure 1.5 shows the different types of information systems that function among multiple organizations. You will study transaction processing systems, management information sys-tems, and enterprise resource planning systems in Chapter 10. You will learn about customer relationship management (CRM) systems and supply chain management (SCM) systems in Chapter 11.

In the next section, you will learn about the numerous and diverse types of information systems employed by modern organizations. You will also read about the types of support these systems provide.

Breadth of Support of Information Systems. Certain information systems support parts of organizations, others support entire organizations, and still others support groups of organizations. This section addresses all of these systems.

Recall that each department or functional area within an organization has its own col-lection of application programs, or information systems. These functional area informa-tion systems (FAISs) are supporting pillars for the information systems located at the top of Figure 1.4, namely, business intelligence systems and dashboards. As the name sug-gests, each FAIS supports a particular functional area within the organization. Examples are accounting IS, fi nance IS, production/operations management (POM) IS, marketing IS, and human resources IS.

Table

1.3Major Capabilities of Information Systems

Perform high-speed, high-volume numerical computations.

Provide fast, accurate communication and collaboration within and among

organizations.

Store huge amounts of information in an easy-to-access, yet small space.

Allow quick and inexpensive access to vast amounts of information, worldwide.

Interpret vast amounts of data quickly and effi ciently.

Automate both semiautomatic business processes and manual tasks.



Consider these examples of IT systems in the various functional areas of an organization. In fi nance and accounting, managers use IT systems to forecast revenues and business activ-ity, to determine the best sources and uses of funds, and to perform audits to ensure that the organization is fundamentally sound and that all fi nancial reports and documents are accurate.

In sales and marketing, managers use information technology to perform the following functions:

• Product analysis: developing new goods and services• Site analysis: determining the best location for production and distribution facilities• Promotion analysis: identifying the best advertising channels• Price analysis: setting product prices to obtain the highest total revenues

Marketing managers also use IT to manage their relationships with their customers. In man-ufacturing, managers use IT to process customer orders, develop production schedules, control inventory levels, and monitor product quality. They also use IT to design and manufacture products. These processes are called computer-assisted design (CAD) and computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM).

Managers in human resources use IT to manage the recruiting process, analyze and screen job applicants, and hire new employees. They also employ IT to help employees manage their careers, to administer performance tests to employees, and to monitor employee productivity. Finally, they rely on IT to manage compensation and benefi ts packages.

Two information systems support the entire organization: enterprise resource planning sys-tems and transaction processing systems. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are designed to correct a lack of communication among the functional area ISs. For this reason Figure 1.4 shows ERP systems spanning the FAISs. ERP systems were an important innovation because the various functional area ISs were often developed as standalone systems and did not communicate effectively (if at all) with one another. ERP systems resolve this problem by tightly integrating the functional area ISs via a common database. In doing so, they enhance communications among the functional areas of an organization. For this reason, experts credit ERP systems with greatly increasing organizational productivity.

FIN

MKT

HRM

Business-to-businesselectronic commerce

(B2B)

Business-to-businesselectronic commerce

(B2B)

SUPPLIERS

Sup

ply

chai

nm

anag

emen

t

Custom

er relationship

managem

ent

YourOrganization

Business-to-consumerelectronic commerce

(B2C)

CUSTOMERS

Individuals

Information

Online orders

Payments

Online orders

Payments

Digital products

Digital products

Payments

Online orders

Physical products

Physical products

Mat

erial

s

Internet

Business

FIGURE 1.5 Information systems that function among multiple organizations.



A transaction processing system (TPS) supports the monitoring, collection, storage, and processing of data from the organization’s basic business transactions, each of which generates data. When you are checking out at Walmart, for example, a transaction occurs each time the cashier swipes an item across the bar code reader. Signifi cantly, within an organization, differ-ent functions or departments can defi ne a transaction differently. In accounting, for example, a transaction is anything that changes a fi rm’s chart of accounts. The information system defi -nition of a transaction is broader: A transaction is anything that changes the fi rm’s database. The chart of accounts is only part of the fi rm’s database. Consider a scenario in which a stu-dent transfers from one section of an Introduction to MIS course to another section. This move would be a transaction to the university’s information system, but not to the university’s accounting department (the tuition would not change).

The TPS collects data continuously, typically in real time—that is, as soon as the data are generated—and it provides the input data for the corporate databases. TPSs are considered critical to the success of any enterprise because they support core operations. Signifi cantly, nearly all ERP systems are also TPSs, but not all TPSs are ERP systems. In fact, modern ERP systems incorporate many functions that previously were handled by the organization’s func-tional area information systems. You study both TPSs and ERP systems in detail in Chapter 10.

ERP systems and TPSs function primarily within a single organization. Information systems that connect two or more organizations are referred to as interorganizational information systems (IOSs). IOSs support many interorganizational operations, of which supply chain management is the best known. An organization’s supply chain is the fl ow of materials, infor-mation, money, and services from suppliers of raw materials through factories and warehouses to the end customers.

Note that the supply chain in Figure 1.5 shows physical fl ows, information fl ows, and fi nan-cial fl ows. Digitizable products are those that can be represented in electronic form, such as music and software. Information fl ows, fi nancial fl ows, and digitizable products go through the Internet, whereas physical products are shipped. For example, when you order a computer from www.dell.com, your information goes to Dell via the Internet. When your transaction is completed (i.e., your credit card is approved and your order is processed), Dell ships your computer to you. (We discuss supply chains in more detail in Chapter 11.)

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) systems are another type of interorganizational informa-tion system. These systems enable organizations to conduct transactions, called business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce, and customers to conduct transactions with businesses, called business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic commerce. E-commerce systems typically are Internet-based. Figure 1.5 illustrates B2B and B2C electronic commerce. Electronic com-merce systems are so important that we discuss them in detail in Chapter 7, with additional examples interspersed throughout the text.

Support for Organizational Employees. So far, you have concentrated on information systems that support specifi c functional areas and operations. Now you will learn about infor-mation systems that typically support particular employees within the organization.

Clerical workers, who support managers at all levels of the organization, include bookkeep-ers, secretaries, electronic fi le clerks, and insurance claim processors. Lower-level managers handle the day-to-day operations of the organization, making routine decisions such as assign-ing tasks to employees and placing purchase orders. Middle managers make tactical decisions, which deal with activities such as short-term planning, organizing, and control.

Knowledge workers are professional employees such as fi nancial and marketing analysts, engineers, lawyers, and accountants. All knowledge workers are experts in a particular subject area. They create information and knowledge, which they integrate into the business. Knowl-edge workers, in turn, act as advisors to middle managers and executives. Finally, executives make decisions that deal with situations that can signifi cantly change the manner in which business is done. Examples of executive decisions are introducing a new product line, acquir-ing other businesses, and relocating operations to a foreign country.

Offi ce automation systems (OASs) typically support the clerical staff, lower and middle managers, and knowledge workers. These employees use OASs to develop documents (word

ACCT



processing and desktop publishing software), schedule resources (electronic calendars), and communicate (e-mail, voice mail, videoconferencing, and groupware).

Functional area information systems summarize data and prepare reports, primarily for middle managers, but sometimes for lower-level managers as well. Because these reports typi-cally concern a specifi c functional area, report generators (RPGs) are an important type of functional area IS.

Business intelligence (BI) systems provide computer-based support for complex, nonroutine decisions, primarily for middle managers and knowledge workers. (They also support lower-level managers, but to a lesser extent.) These systems are typically used with a data warehouse, and they enable users to perform their own data analysis. You learn about BI systems in Chapter 12.

Expert systems (ESs) attempt to duplicate the work of human experts by applying reasoning capabilities, knowledge, and expertise within a specifi c domain. They have become valuable in many application areas, primarily but not exclusively areas involving decision making. For example, navigation systems use rules to select routes, but we do not typically think of these systems as expert systems. Signifi cantly, expert systems can operate as standalone systems or be embedded in other applications. We examine ESs in greater detail in Technology Guide 4.

Dashboards (also called digital dashboards) are a special form of IS that support all managers of the organization. They provide rapid access to timely information and direct access to structured information in the form of reports. Dashboards that are tailored to the information needs of execu-tives are called executive dashboards. Chapter 12 provides a thorough discussion of dashboards.

Table 1.4 provides an overview of the different types of information systems used by organizations.

Type of System Function Example

Functional area IS Supports the activities within specifi c

functional area.

System for processing payroll

Transaction processing

system

Processes transaction data from business

events.

Walmart checkout point-of-sale

terminal

Enterprise resource planning Integrates all functional areas of the organization. Oracle, SAP system

Offi ce automation system Supports daily work activities of individuals and

groups.

Microsoft® Offi ce

Management information

system

Produces reports summarized from transaction

data, usually in one functional area.

Report on total sales for each

customer

Decision support system Provides access to data and analysis tools. “What-if” analysis of changes

in budget

Expert system Mimics human expert in a particular area and

makes decisions.

Credit card approval analysis

Executive dashboard Presents structured, summarized information

about aspects of business important to executives.

Status of sales by product

Supply chain management

system

Manages fl ows of products, services, and

information among organizations.

Walmart Retail Link system

connecting suppliers to Walmart

Electronic commerce system Enables transactions among organizations and

between organizations and customers.

www.dell.com

Table 1.4Types of Organizational Information Systems


21SECTION 1.3 How Does IT Impact Organizations?

How Does IT Impact Organizations?Throughout this text you will encounter numerous examples of how IT affects various types of organizations. This section provides an overview of the impact of IT on modern organizations. As you read this section you will learn how IT will affect you as well.

IT Reduces the Number of Middle ManagersIT makes managers more productive, and it increases the number of employees who can report to a single manager. Thus, IT ultimately decreases the number of managers and experts. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that in coming years organizations will have fewer managerial levels and fewer staff and line managers. If this trend materializes, promotional opportunities will decrease, making promotions much more competitive. Bottom line: Pay attention in school!

IT Changes the Manager’s JobOne of the most important tasks of managers is making decisions. A major consequence of IT has been to change the manner in which managers make their decisions. In this way, IT ultimately has changed managers’ jobs.

IT often provides managers with near-real-time information, meaning that managers have less time to make decisions, making their jobs even more stressful. Fortunately, IT also provides many tools—for example, business analytics applications such as dashboards, search engines, and intranets—to help managers handle the volumes of information they must deal with on an ongoing basis.

So far in this section, we have been focusing on managers in general. Now, let’s focus on you. Due to advances in IT, you will increasingly supervise employees and teams who are geo-graphically dispersed. Employees can work from anywhere at any time, and teams can consist of employees who are literally dispersed throughout the world. Information technologies such as telepresence systems (discussed in Chapter 6) can help you manage these employees even though you do not often see them face-to-face. For these employees, electronic or “remote” supervision will become the norm. Remote supervision places greater emphasis on completed work and less emphasis on personal contacts and offi ce politics. You will have to reassure your employees that they are valued members of the organization, thereby diminishing any feelings they might have of being isolated and “out of the loop.”

Will IT Eliminate Jobs?One major concern of every employee, part-time or full-time, is job security. Relentless cost-cutting measures in modern organizations often lead to large-scale layoffs. Put simply, orga-nizations are responding to today’s highly competitive environment by doing more with less. Regardless of your position, then, you consistently will have to add value to your organization and to make certain that your superiors are aware of this value.

Many companies have responded to diffi cult economic times, increased global competi-tion, demands for customization, and increased consumer sophistication by increasing their investments in IT. In fact, as computers continue to advance in terms of intelligence and

1.3



capabilities, the competitive advantage of replacing people with machines is increasing rap-idly. This process frequently leads to layoffs. At the same time, however, IT creates entirely new categories of jobs, such as electronic medical record keeping and nanotechnology.

IT Impacts Employees at WorkMany people have experienced a loss of identity because of computerization. They feel like “just another number” because computers reduce or eliminate the human element present in noncomputerized systems.

The Internet threatens to exert an even more isolating infl uence than have computers and television. Encouraging people to work and shop from their living rooms could produce some unfortunate psychological effects, such as depression and loneliness.

IT Impacts Employees’ Health and Safety. Although computers and information sys-tems are generally regarded as agents of “progress,” they can adversely affect individuals’ health and safety. To illustrate this point, we consider two issues associated with IT: job stress and long-term use of the keyboard.

An increase in an employee’s workload and/or responsibilities can trigger job stress. Although computerization has benefi ted organizations by increasing productivity, it also has created an ever-expanding workload for some employees. Some workers feel overwhelmed and have become increasingly anxious about their job performance. These feelings of stress and anxiety can actually diminish rather than improve workers’ productivity while jeopardizing their physical and mental health. Management can help alleviate these problems by providing training, redistributing the workload among workers, and hiring more workers.

On a more specifi c level, the long-term use of keyboards can lead to repetitive strain injuriessuch as backaches and muscle tension in the wrists and fi ngers. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a particularly painful form of repetitive strain injury that affects the wrists and hands.

Designers are aware of the potential problems associated with the prolonged use of comput-ers. To address these problems, they continually attempt to design a better computing environ-ment. The science of designing machines and work settings that minimize injury and illness is called ergonomics. The goal of ergonomics is to create an environment that is safe, well lit, and comfortable. Examples of ergonomically designed products are antiglare screens that alleviate problems of fatigued or damaged eyesight and chairs that contour the human body to decrease backaches. Figure 1.6 displays some sample ergonomic products.

IT Provides Opportunities for People with Disabilities. Computers can create new employment opportunities for people with disabilities by integrating speech-recognition and vision-recognition capabilities. For example, individuals who cannot type can use a voice-oper-ated keyboard, and individuals who cannot travel can work at home.

Going further, adaptive equipment for computers enables people with disabilities to perform tasks they normally would not be able to do. For example, the Web and graphical user interfaces (GUIs; e.g., Windows) can be diffi cult for people with impaired vision to use. To address this problem, manufacturers have added audible screen tips and voice interfaces, which essentially restore the functionality of computers to the way it was before GUIs become standard.

Other devices help improve the quality of life in more mundane, but useful, ways for peo-ple with disabilities. Examples are a two-way writing telephone, a robotic page turner, a hair brusher, and a hospital-bedside video trip to the zoo or the museum. Several organizations specialize in IT designed for people with disabilities.


23SECTION 1.4 Importance of Information Systems to Society

Importance of Information Systems to SocietyThis section explains in greater detail why IT is important to society as a whole. Other exam-ples of the impact of IT on society appear throughout the text.

IT Affects Our Quality of LifeIT has signifi cant implications for our quality of life. The workplace can be expanded from the traditional 9-to-5 job at a central location to 24 hours a day at any location. IT can provide employees with fl exibility that can signifi cantly improve the quality of leisure time, even if it doesn’t increase the total amount of leisure time.

From the opposite perspective, however, IT also can place employees on “constant call,” which means they are never truly away from the offi ce, even when they are on vacation. In fact, surveys reveal that the majority of respondents take their laptops and smartphones on their vacations, and 100 percent took their cell phones. Going further, the majority of respondents did some work while vacationing, and almost all of them checked their e-mail regularly.

Information technology clearly affects our quality of life. Interestingly, IT can also impact the quality of life of an entire country, as you see in IT’s About Business 1.2.

1.4

a b

c d

FIGURE 1.6 Ergonomic products protect computer users. (a) Wrist support. (b) Back support. (c) Eye-protection fi lter (optically coated glass). (d) Adjustable foot rest.



The Robot Revolution Is Here NowOnce restricted largely to science fi ction movies, robots that can perform practical tasks are becoming more common. In fact, “cyberpooches,” “nursebots,” and other mechanical beings may be our companions before we know it. Around the world, quasi-autonomous devices have become increasingly common on factory fl oors, in hospital corridors, and in farm fi elds.

IT’s [about business]

Tokelau is a four-square-mile island nation in the Pacifi c Ocean

that is home to only 1,500 people. Tokelau has the smallest

economy of any country in the world, with an annual per capita

purchasing power of $1,000 U.S. Tokelau’s government is almost

entirely dependent on subsidies from New Zealand. However, is

generating income through its country code top-level domain, .tk.

As we discuss in detail in Chapter 6, a top-level domain is the

highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Inter-

net. A generic top-level domain (gTLD) is one of the categories of

top-level domains maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers

Authority for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. gTLDs

are visible to users as the suffi x at the end of a domain name.

If you are among the companies trying to obtain one of the

nearly 2,000 new gTLDs, the application will cost you about

$185,000, plus a $25,000 annual fee. Fortunately, there are

cheaper options. One of the most popular domains is .tk, a coun-

try code top-level domain (a country code top-level domain is a

type of gTLD) similar to .ca for Canada and .fr for France.

Tokelau’s prominence on the Internet is a result of the efforts

of Joost Zuurbier of Amsterdam. Zuurbier wanted to use Hotmail’s

business model. He reasoned that if Hotmail could make money

by providing free e-mail, then he could make money by offering

free domains. He found Tokelau, whose citizens were unaware

that they are entitled to their country code domain. In fact, no one

on the island had ever seen a Web page before.

Zuurbier traveled to Tokelau with the satellite equipment

needed for Internet access. After years of effort and many meet-

ings with Tokelau’s citizens, Zuurbier’s company, Freedom Regis-

try (www.freedomregistry.com), launched its .tk domain in 2006.

By mid-2013, more than 9 million Web sites had .tk domains.

Freedom Registry continues to expand, particularly by conducting

business with emerging economies such as China, Brazil, Russia,

Peru, and Vietnam. These countries have local country code top-

level domains: .cn, .br, .ru, .pe, and .vn, respectively. However,

registering Web sites in those domains can be expensive, so indi-

viduals and companies turn to .tk.

If Freedom Registry provides domain names for free, then how

does it make money? The answer is that the company generates

revenue through ads on expired domains. Essentially, when users

abandon their Web site or do not meet the minimum requirements

of 25 unique visitors every 90 days, the domain is “parked.” In

other words, the URL still exists, but the content is replaced with

ads tailored to the original Web site. For instance, if the original

Web site involved travel to Europe, then the ads on that parked

site would pertain to European travel. Freedom Registry can target

these ads to specifi c audiences because it has software tools that

examine the content of all Web sites on the .tk domain.

In return for the use of the .tk domain, Freedom Registry pays

part of the money it earns to the people of Tokelau. In fact, one-sixth

of the country’s economy comes from the .tk domain. In addition,

Zuurbier has brought connectivity to the nation. Prior to his arrival, the

country had four phone lines that provided only low-bandwidth, dial-

up connections to the Internet. Today, citizens have Internet access

via the satellite connection provided by Zuurbier. There are now 120

computers on the island, although the power still goes off at 10 PM.

Tokelau has increased its gross domestic product (GDP) by

more than 10 percent through registrations of domain names. In

fact, a report from Verisign, the global registry operator for .com

and .net, revealed that .tk is the third-most popular country code

top-level domain in the world, behind only Germany (.de) and the

United Kingdom (.uk).

On an unfortunate note, in 2011 the Anti-Phishing Working Group

(www.antiphishing.org) claimed that the .tk domain was favored by

spammers and scammers. The group rated the .tk domain as one of

the most widely used in the world for sheltering criminal Web sites. In

response, in 2012, Freedom Registry expanded its anti-abuse strat-

egy by enabling trusted partners to electronically report any active

Web sites that are used in spam, phishing, or other abuse. Freedom

Registry allows its partners, such as Facebook, Kaspersky Labs,

and Twitter, to connect their anti-abuse systems with Freedom Reg-

istry’s domain name database. When Freedom Registry receives an

electronic report of abuse, it immediately blocks the Web site.

Sources: Compiled from “Tokelau Profi le,” BBC News, November 7, 2012;

T. Khalid, “How Tiny Tokelau Built a Huge Internet Domain,” Internet Evolu-

tion, June 11, 2012; T. Andres, “The Tiny Island with a Huge Web Presence,”

CNN, June 13, 2012; D. Pauli, “Pacifi c Atoll a Phishing Haven,” ZDNet, April

27, 2011; “Biggest Expansion in gTLDs Approved for Implementation,”

ICANN.org, June 26, 2008; www.tokelau.org.nz, www.freedomregistry.com,

accessed April 5, 2013.

Questions1. Describe several benefi ts that Zuurbier brought to the citizens

of Tokelau.

2. Now that the citizens of Tokelau have Internet access, what other

strategies can they use to generate income for themselves?

1.2 Internet Registry Enhances Island Nation’s Economy

MIS



For home use, iRobot (www.irobot.com) produces the Roomba to vacuum our fl oors, the Scooba to wash our fl oors, the Dirt Dog to sweep our garages, the Verro to clean our pools, and the Looj to clean our gutters. The chapter closing case takes a look at Baxter, a new, more human-like robot.

Robots are becoming widely used in a variety of areas. IT’s About Business 1.3 discusses three additional types of robots: telepresence robots, autonomous cars, and drones.

MIS


Telepresence robots. Telepresence robots are designed to help

companies save money on travel and on expensive teleconferenc-

ing technology. They enable people in remote offi ces or locations

to have a rich communications experience without using a compli-

cated video conference system.

A telepresence robot has both a video camera and a video

screen embedded in its “head.” It also has wheels so it can be

moved around remotely by computer. It is designed to steer its

way clear of obstacles and people.

These robots enable an individual to maintain a consistent con-

nection with co-workers, customers, or clients. The user places

the robot at a remote location and directs it to move around, for

example, a conference room during a meeting, broadcasting what

is going on to the human controlling it from afar. Interestingly, the

robots actually break down barriers of awkwardness that people

sometimes feel in person-to-person meetings.

Telepresence robots are used for purposes other than con-

ducting business. For example, they let homebuyers virtually tour

distant properties, they enable doctors to conduct bedside con-

sultations from a distance (telemedicine), they provide an inexpen-

sive method to patrol workplaces at night, and they allow parents

who are out to dinner to stay in touch with their children at home.

Other examples are

• Business managers are using telepresence robots to virtually

walk factory fl oors.

• Healthcare organizations are employing robots for home care.

• In the retail environment, a robot could wander the fl oor with

a customer who asks it purchasing or support questions.

The person controlling the robot could answer the questions,

essentially making the robot a mechanical sales clerk.

Many start-up companies are developing telepresence robots.

Let’s take a look at some of them.

• Oculus, made by Xaxxon Technologies (www.xaxxon.com), is

utilized primarily for security patrols. The robot is essentially a

set of wheels for a laptop that runs Skype videoconferencing

software. Oculus can be controlled with a smartphone.

• In December 2012, a start-up called Robotics Valley (www

.roboticsvalley.com), began manufacturing a $300 three-

wheeled telepresence robot called Botiful. Botiful is remotely

piloted, it carries an Android-based smartphone, and streams

video via Skype.

Autonomous Cars. Autonomy is commonly defi ned as the ability

of a machine to make decisions without human intervention. The

best-known example of an autonomous, or self-driving, car is the

Google driverless car. In August 2012, Google announced that its

autonomous car team had completed more than 300,000 acci-

dent-free, self-driving miles. As of September 2012, four states

had passed laws permitting driverless cars: Nevada, Florida,

Texas, and California.

As of mid-2013, Google had not announced any plans to

commercially develop the system. An attorney for the California

Department of Motor Vehicles raised concerns that Google’s tech-

nology is “ahead of the law in many areas,” citing state laws that

“all presume to have a human being operating the vehicle.”

Audi, Toyota, and Cadillac, among other car brands, are devel-

oping autonomous cars as well. It is worth noting that each of

Google’s driverless test cars contains about $150,000 in equip-

ment. With so many automobile manufacturers developing auton-

omous cars, the price will undoubtedly drop quickly.

Drones. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a

drone, is an aircraft that does not have a human pilot on board. Its

fl ight is controlled either autonomously by computers contained

in the vehicle or via remote control by a pilot located either on the

ground or in another vehicle. UAVs are deployed predominately

for military applications, but they are also employed in a grow-

ing number of civil applications including police work, fi refi ghting,

and nonmilitary security work such as surveillance of pipelines and

border control.

The ultimate goal in the development of autonomous technol-

ogy in UAVs is to replace the human pilot. To this end, artifi cial

intelligence has advanced to the point where UAVs are capable

of taking off, landing, and fl ying by themselves. It remains to be

seen, however, whether the perception of autonomous technol-

ogy, and, most importantly, the political climate surrounding the

use of such technology, will limit the development and utility of

autonomous UAVs.

There is a great deal of controversy concerning the use of UAVs

within the United States. These drones are powerful surveillance

tools, capable of carrying facial recognition systems, license plate

scanners, thermal imaging cameras, open Wi-Fi scanners, and

many other types of sensors. On January 10, 2012, the Electronic

Frontier Foundation (EFF), an advocacy group for free speech and

privacy rights in technology-related areas, fi led a Freedom of Infor-

mation Act lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration.

1.3 Different Types of Robots



In response, the FAA, for the fi rst time, released a list of the names

of all public and private entities that have applied for authorization

to fl y drones domestically. Among these organizations is the U.S.

Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP), located within the

Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The CBP has used UAVs

to patrol U.S. borders since 2005. Other organizations on the list

include the FBI, the Department of Defense, and local law enforce-

ment agencies.

Signifi cantly, U.S. citizens currently have few legal privacy

protections from aerial surveillance conducted with UAVs. In one

case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that individuals do not have the

right to privacy from police observation from public airspace, even

on their private property. The weakness of legal protection from

UAV surveillance has led civil liberties advocacy groups to pres-

sure the U.S. government to issue laws and regulations that estab-

lish both privacy protections and greater transparency regarding

the use of UAVs to gather information about individuals.

Sources: Compiled from A. Vance, “Google Self-Driving Robot Cars Are

Ruining My Commute,” Bloomberg BusinessWeek, March 28, 2013; J.

Horgen, “Unmanned Flight,” National Geographic, March 2013; W. Knight,

“The Perfect Parking Garage: No Drivers Required,” MIT Technology

Review, March 27, 2013; “Your Alter Ego on Wheels,” The Economist, March

9, 2013; M. Whittington, “Law Proposed in Texas to Require Licensed Driver

in Self-Driving Vehicles,” Yahoo! News, March 8, 2013; M. Stewart, “Drones

Patrolling U.S. Borders Spark Controversy Over Privacy,” TheDenverChan-

nel.com, February 24, 2013; J. Oram, “Governor Brown Signs California

Driverless Car Law at Google HQ,” WebProNews, September 27, 2012; M.

Slosson, “Google Gets First Self-Driven Car License in Nevada,” Reuters,

May 8, 2012; D. Bennett, “I’ll Have My Robots Talk to Your Robots,” Bloom-

berg BusinessWeek, February 21–27, 2011; A. Diana, “12 Advances in

Medical Robotics,” InformationWeek, January 29, 2011; www.xaxxon.com,

www.roboticsvalley.com, accessed March 23, 2013.

Questions1. Discuss some disadvantages of (a) telepresence robots; (b)

autonomous cars; and (c) drones.

2. Would you be willing to ride in an autonomous car? Why or why

not?

3. Which occupations are most at risk from a widespread adop-

tion of autonomous cars? Support your answer.

4. Debate the privacy issues associated with domestic use of

drones by police forces.

It probably will be a long time before we see robots making decisions by themselves, han-dling unfamiliar situations, and interacting with people. Nevertheless, robots are extremely helpful in various environments, particularly those that are repetitive, harsh, or dangerous to humans.

Improvements in HealthcareIT has brought about major improvements in healthcare delivery. Medical personnel use IT to make better and faster diagnoses and to monitor critically ill patients more accurately. IT also has streamlined the process of researching and developing new drugs. Expert systems now help doctors diagnose diseases, and machine vision is enhancing the work of radiologists. Sur-geons use virtual reality to plan complex surgeries. They also employ surgical robots to perform long-distance surgery. Finally, doctors discuss complex medical cases via videoconferencing. New computer simulations recreate the sense of touch, allowing doctors-in-training to perform virtual procedures without risking harm to an actual patient.

Not all uses of information technology to improve health are expensive and sophisticated. IT’s About Business 1.4 illustrates how Zamzee is using gamifi cation to help young people lose weight.

MIS


Jerry never paid much attention to how much physical activ-

ity he engaged in. However, one day he played basketball

while wearing a small activity tracker called a Zamzee on his

waist. Later, he plugged the device into his computer’s USB

port and uploaded the data captured by the device’s acceler-

ometers (devices to help determine the speed and distance of

the person wearing the device). Unlike a FitBit (www.fi tbit.com),

a popular pedometer geared to adults, his Zamzee did not tell

Jerry how many steps he took or how many calories he burned.

Instead, it gave him points for the movement he had made: a

total of 758 points. These points are the currency that he can

spend in the virtual world of Zamzee.com, where he created an

avatar representing himself. If Jerry continues to exercise, he

can eventually collect enough “Zamz” to be able to purchase

real items like an iPod Nano (16,000 Zamz) or a Wii console

(18,000 Zamz).

1.4 Getting Kids in Shape



Among the thousands of other healthcare applications, administrative systems are critically important. These systems perform functions ranging from detecting insurance fraud, to creat-ing nursing schedules, to fi nancial and marketing management.

The Internet contains vast amounts of useful medical information (see www.webmd.com, for example). In an interesting study, researchers at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Bris-bane, Australia, identifi ed 26 diffi cult diagnostic cases published in the New England Journal of Medicine. They selected three to fi ve search terms from each case and then conducted a Google search. Next, they recorded the three diagnoses that Google ranked most prominently and that appeared to fi t the symptoms and signs. Finally, they compared these results with the correct diagnoses as published in the journal. The researchers discovered that their Google searches had found the correct diagnosis in 15 of the 26 cases, a success rate of 57 percent. Despite these results, the research team cautions against self-diagnosis. They maintain that people should use diagnostic information gained from Google and medical Web sites such as WebMD (www.webmd.com) only to ask questions of their physicians. In the closing case of Chapter 2, you will see the medical applications of IBM’s Watson system.

Jerry’s experience illustrates the goals of Zamzee (www

.zamzee.com), a company that is testing the idea that the addic-

tiveness of games can be harnessed to solve a diffi cult social

problem—in this case, childhood obesity. The concept is called

gamifi cation, which is the use of game thinking and game mechan-

ics in a non-game context to engage users and solve problems.

Rather than focusing on weight loss or diet, Zamzee hopes to

reward movement of any kind in children ages 11 to 14. Zamzee

has targeted this demographic because research indicates that

these are the ages when physical activity drops precipitously.

Signifi cantly, this is also the period when children adopt lifelong

habits.

Zamzee is a for-profi t venture started by HopeLab, the non-

profi t foundation funded by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and

his wife, Pam. Zamzee will formally launch in the fall of 2013.

By mid-2013, however, pilot programs were already underway in

schools and community centers in Atlanta, Chicago, Honolulu,

and San Francisco.

Jerry is one of the middle-school boys who have been trying

Zamzee at a Boys & Girls Club in Atlanta. Georgia ranks sec-

ond in the nation for childhood obesity, and more than half of its

middle-school students fail to meet the Center for Disease Con-

trol’s recommendations for daily activity. The situation is so seri-

ous that Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, a system of pediatric

centers, recently launched an ad campaign aimed at overweight

children.

Zamzee concentrates on carrots rather than sticks. Parents

put money into an account to fund the rewards that their children

can try to earn with their Zamz (though some donors, such as the

Mayo Clinic, are providing funding during the pilot tests).

Neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt, the author of Welcome to Your

Child’s Brain, praises Zamzee’s focus on physical activity instead

of weight. She cautions, however, that research has revealed that

intrinsic motivation outlasts extrinsic rewards. (Intrinsic motivation

comes from inside an individual rather than from external rewards,

such as money or grades.) With that in mind, Zamzee’s develop-

ers have been testing multiple methods for motivating children.

They have found that combining virtual (electronic) and monetary

rewards can be successful.

And the bottom line? According to Zamzee, studies confi rm

that kids who use Zamzee move almost 60 percent more on aver-

age than kids who do not.

Sources: Compiled from “Zamzee Improves Kids’ Health Using Gamifi-

cation Tools from Bunchball,” Yahoo! Finance, March 8, 2013; N. Mott,

“Zamzee Cracks Gamified Fitness....For the Children,” Pandodaily

.com, October 5, 2012; M. Frazier, “Virtual World Takes on Childhood

Obesity,” MIT Technology Review, May 16, 2012; J. Temple, “Jury Out

on Zamzee, Other Forms of ‘Gamification’,” San Francisco Chronicle,

February 26, 2012; H. Shaughnessy, “The Day I Knew Gamification

Would be a Winner,” Forbes, February 8, 2012; www.zamzee.com,

accessed April 5, 2013.

Questions1. Why is Zamzee using games to help kids lose weight?

2. In your opinion, would Zamzee be as successful for adult

weight loss? Why or why not?



What’s In ITFor Me?

In Section 1.2, we discussed how IT supports each of the functional areas of the organization. Here we examine the MIS function.

For the MIS MajorThe MIS function directly supports all other functional areas in an organiza-tion. That is, the MIS function is responsible for providing the information that each functional area needs in order to make decisions. The overall objective of MIS personnel is to help users improve performance and solve business problems using IT. To accomplish this objective, MIS personnel must understand both the information requirements and the technology associated with each functional area. Given their position, however, they must think “business needs” fi rst and “technology” second.

MIS

[ Summary ]1. Identify the reasons why being an informed user of information sys-

tems is important in today’s world.The benefi ts of being an informed user of IT include:

• You will benefi t more from your organization’s IT applications because you will understand what is “behind” those applications.

• You will be able to provide input into your organization’s IT applications, thus improving the quality of those applications.

• You will quickly be in a position to recommend, or participate in the selection of IT applications that your organization will use.

• You will be able to keep up with rapid developments in existing information technolo-gies, as well as the introduction of new technologies.

• You will understand the potential impacts that “new and improved” technologies will have on your organization and therefore will be qualifi ed to make recommendations concerning their adoption and use.

• You will play a key role in managing the information systems in your organization.• You will be in a position to use IT if you decide to start your own business.

2. Describe the various types of computer-based information systems in an organization.

• Transaction processing systems (TPS) support the monitoring, collection, storage, and processing of data from the organization’s basic business transactions, each of which generates data.

• Functional area information systems (FAISs) support a particular functional area within the organization.

• Interorganizational information systems (IOSs) support many interorganizational oper-ations, of which supply chain management is the best known.

• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems correct a lack of communication among the FAISs by tightly integrating the functional area ISs via a common database.

• Electronic commerce (e-commerce) systems enable organizations to conduct transac-tions with other organizations (called business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce), and with customers (called business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic commerce).

• Offi ce automation systems (OASs) typically support the clerical staff, lower and middle managers, and knowledge workers, by enabling them to develop documents (word pro-cessing and desktop publishing software), schedule resources (electronic calendars), and communicate (e-mail, voice mail, videoconferencing, and groupware).


29Chapter Glossary

• Business intelligence (BI) systems provide computer-based support for complex, nonroutine decisions, primarily for middle managers and knowledge workers.

• Expert systems (ESs) attempt to duplicate the work of human experts by applying reasoning capabilities, knowledge, and expertise within a specifi c domain.

3. Discuss ways in which information technology can affect managers and nonmanagerial workers.Potential IT impacts on managers:

• IT may reduce the number of middle managers;• IT will provide managers with real-time or near-real-time information, meaning that

managers will have less time to make decisions;• IT will increase the likelihood that managers will have to supervise geographically dis-

persed employees and teams.

Potential IT impacts on nonmanagerial workers:

• IT may eliminate jobs;• IT may cause employees to experience a loss of identity;• IT can cause job stress and physical problems, such as repetitive stress injury.

4. List positive and negative societal effects of the increased use of information technology.Positive societal effects:

• IT can provide opportunities for people with disabilities;• IT can provide people with fl exibility in their work (e.g., work from anywhere, anytime);• Robots will take over mundane chores;• IT will enable improvements in healthcare.

Negative societal effects:

• IT can cause health problems for individuals;• IT can place employees on constant call;• IT can potentially misinform patients about their health problems.

[ Chapter Glossary ]application (or app) A computer program designed to sup-port a specifi c task or business process.business intelligence (BI) systems Provide computer-based support for complex, nonroutine decisions, primarily for mid-dle managers and knowledge workers.computer-based information system (CBIS) An information system that uses computer technology to perform some or all of its intended tasks.dashboards A special form of IS that support all managers of the organization by providing rapid access to timely informa-tion and direct access to structured information in the form of reports.data items An elementary description of things, events, activi-ties, and transactions that are recorded, classifi ed, and stored but are not organized to convey any specifi c meaning.database A collection of related fi les or tables containing data.electronic commerce (e-commerce) systems A type of inter-organizational information system that enables organizations

to conduct transactions, called business-to-business electronic commerce, and customers to conduct transactions with busi-nesses, called business-to-consumer electronic commerce.enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems Information systems that correct a lack of communication among the func-tional area ISs by tightly integrating the functional area ISs via a common database.ergonomics The science of adapting machines and work environments to people; focuses on creating an environment that is safe, well lit, and comfortable.expert systems (ESs) Attempt to duplicate the work of human experts by applying reasoning capabilities, knowledge, and expertise within a specifi c domain.functional area information systems (FAISs) ISs that support a particular functional area within the organization.hardware A device such as a processor, monitor, keyboard, or printer. Together, these devices accept, process, and display data and information.



information Data that have been organized so that they have meaning and value to the recipient.information system (IS) Collects, processes, stores, analyzes, and disseminates information for a specifi c purpose.information technology (IT) Relates to any computer-based tool that people use to work with information and support the information and information-processing needs of an organization.information technology components Hardware, software, databases, and networks.information technology infrastructure IT components plus IT services.information technology platform Formed by the IT compo-nents of hardware, software, networks (wireline and wireless), and databases.information technology services IT personnel use IT com-ponents to perform these IT services: develop information systems, oversee security and risk, and manage data.informed user A person knowledgeable about information systems and information technology.interorganizational information systems (IOSs) Information systems that connect two or more organizations.

knowledge Data and/or information that have been orga-nized and processed to convey understanding, experience, accumulated learning, and expertise as they apply to a current problem or activity.knowledge workers Professional employees such as fi nancial and marketing analysts, engineers, lawyers, and accountants, who are experts in a particular subject area and create infor-mation and knowledge, which they integrate into the business.network A connecting system (wireline or wireless) that permits different computers to share resources.procedures The set of instructions for combining hardware, software, database, and network components in order to pro-cess information and generate the desired output.software A program or collection of programs that enable the hardware to process data.supply chain The fl ow of materials, information, money, and services from suppliers of raw materials through factories and warehouses to the end customers.transaction processing system (TPS) Supports the moni-toring, collection, storage, and processing of data from the organization’s basic business transactions, each of which generates data.

[ Discussion Questions ]1. Describe a business that you would like to start. Discuss

how you would use global outsourcing to accomplish your goals.

2. Your university wants to recruit high-quality high school students from your state. Provide examples of (1) the data that your recruiters would gather in this process, (2) the information that your recruiters would process from these data, and (3) the types of knowledge that your recruiters would infer from this information.

3. Can the terms data, information, and knowledge have different meanings for different people? Support your answer with examples.

4. Information technology makes it possible to “never be out of touch.” Discuss the pros and cons of always being available to your employers and clients (regardless of where you are or what you are doing).

5. Robots have the positive impact of being able to relieve humans from working in dangerous conditions. What are some negative impacts of robots in the workplace?

6. Is it possible to endanger yourself by accessing too much medical information on the Web? Why or why not? Sup-port your answer.

7. Is the vast amount of medical information on the Web a good thing? Answer from the standpoint of a patient and from the standpoint of a physician.

8. Describe other potential impacts of IT on societies as a whole.

9. What are the major reasons why it is important for employees in all functional areas to become familiar with IT?

10. Refer to the study at Princess Alexandra Hospital (in the “Improvements in Healthcare” section). How do you feel about Google searches fi nding the correct diagnosis in 57 percent of the cases? Are you impressed with these results? Why or why not? What are the implications of this study for self-diagnosis?

[ Problem-Solving Activities ]1. Visit some Web sites that offer employment oppor-

tunities in IT. Prominent examples are: www.dice.com, www.monster.com, www.collegerecruiter.com, www.careerbuilder.com, www.jobcentral.com, www.job.com, www.career.com, www.simplyhired.com, and

www.truecareers.com. Compare the IT salaries to salaries offered to accountants, marketing personnel, fi nancial personnel, operations personnel, and human resources personnel. For other information on IT salaries, check Computerworld’s annual salary survey.


31Closing Case Baxter: Coming to Work Right Next to You

2. Enter the Web site of UPS (www.ups.com).a. Find out what information is available to customers

before they send a package.b. Find out about the “package tracking” system.c. Compute the cost of delivering a 10 ″ × 20 ″ × 15 ″

box, weighing 40 pounds, from your hometown to Long Beach, California (or to Lansing, Michigan, if you live in or near Long Beach). Compare the fastest delivery against the least cost.

3. Surf the Internet for information about the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Examine the available information, and comment on the role of information technologies in the department.

4. Access www.irobot.com, and investigate the company’s Education and Research Robots. Surf the Web for other companies that manufacture robots, and compare their products with those of iRobot.

[ Team Assignments ]1. (a) Create an online group for studying IT or an aspect

of IT that you are interested in. Each member of the group must establish a Yahoo! e-mail account (free). Go to http://groups.yahoo.com.Step 1: Click on “Start Your Group.”Step 2: Select a category that best describes your group (use Search Group Categories, or use the Browse Group Categories tool). Yahoo! will force you to be very specifi c in categorizing your group. Continue until you see the button: “Place My Group Here.”Step 3: Name your group.Step 4: Enter your group e-mail address.Step 5: Describe your group.Step 6: Select your Yahoo! Profi le and e-mail addresses for your group.

Step 7: Now you can customize your group and invite people to join.Step 8: Conduct a discussion online of at least two topics of interest to the group.Step 9: Find a similar group (use Yahoo!’s “fi nd a group” and make a connection). Write a report for your instructor.(b) Now, follow the same steps for Google Groups.(c) Compare Yahoo! Groups and Google Groups.

2. Review the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Business Week, and local newspapers for the last three months to fi nd stories about the use of computer-based information sys-tems in organizations. Each group will prepare a report describing fi ve applications. The reports should empha-size the role of each application and its benefi t to the organization. Pre-sent and discuss your work.

POM[ Closing Case Baxter: Coming to Work Right Next to You ]

The ProblemManufacturing constitutes a $2 trillion sector of the U.S. econ-omy. For the past 60 years, worker productivity in the manu-facturing sector has increased by about 3.7 percent per year.

In the past, the United States has retained higher-value-added manufacturing jobs while allowing lower-value-added jobs go elsewhere. Interestingly, the defi nition of “elsewhere” has changed over time. The manufacture of simple goods (e.g., toys) is constantly moving to the location with the lowest wages. After the end of World War II, there was an abundance of low-cost labor in Japan, so manufacturing moved there. As the Japanese economy recovered, however, the standard of living rose, and with it the costs of producing goods. As a result, low-cost manufacturing moved to South Korea, where a scenario similar to Japan took place. Manufacturing simple goods then moved to Taiwan, to mainland China, and, most recently, to Vietnam.

From the perspective of a manufacturing company, a more highly educated and skilled workforce typically has less inter-est in low-skilled jobs designed to manufacture simple goods.

As a result, the world will eventually run out of places where low-cost labor is available. Therefore, the question is: What will it take to break out of the cycle of making inexpensive goods by hand with unskilled, inexpensive labor? Perhaps robots are the answer.

The Initial Solution: Industrial RobotsThe fi rst industrial robot developed in the United State was put to work in 1961 in the Unimate, a General Motors fac-tory located in Ewing, New Jersey. The Unimate placed hot, forged car parts into a liquid bath to cool them. At the time, companies could not place a computer on an industrial robot, because computers cost millions of dollars and were room-sized. Sensors were also extremely expensive. As a result, early industrial robots were effectively blind and very dumb, and they performed repeated actions only by following a closely defi ned physical path dictated by a computer program.

Today’s industrial robots still perform well on very narrowly defi ned, repeatable tasks. However, they are not adaptable,



fl exible, or easy to use. In addition, most industrial robots are not safe for people to be around. Moreover, it typically takes 18 months to integrate an industrial robot into a factory operation.

As of mid-2013, 70 percent of all industrial robots were being utilized in automobile factories. These machines are often thought of as money savers for companies. However, the cost to integrate one of today’s industrial robots into a factory operation is often 3 to 5 times the cost of the robot itself. Such integration requires the services of computer programmers and machine specialists. In addition, companies must place safety cages around the robots so that they do not strike people while they are operating. Further, most industrial robots have no sen-sors or means to detect what is happening in their environment.

There are some 300,000 small manufacturing companies in the United States that have fewer than 500 employees. Almost none of these fi rms have an industrial robot, for the reasons we have just discussed. In addition, almost all of these fi rms have relatively small production runs, meaning that they are constantly changing the design and manufacturing proce-dures for what they produce. Some of these companies, called job shops, produce a wide variety of goods for other compa-nies. They specialize in manufacturing a type of product that can be highly customized to an individual client’s needs. In a typical factory that uses an industrial robot, a production run is rarely less than four months long. For a job shop, a production run can be as short as one hour. Clearly, then, small manufac-turing fi rms need a different kind of robot.

A Next-Generation Solution: BaxterRethink Robotics (www.rethinkrobotics.com) may have an answer with Baxter, a new kind of industrial robot that sells for $22,000. Baxter is very different from existing industrial robots. It does not need an expensive or elaborate safety cage, and fac-tory operators do not need to segregate it from human workers. In fact, humans can actually share a workspace with Baxter.

Unlike other industrial robots, Baxter works right out of the box. It can be integrated into a factory’s work fl ow in about an hour. Baxter also requires no special programming. In addi-tion, engineers can go deeper into Baxter’s menu system to adjust and optimize settings for different tasks.

Interacting with Baxter is more like working with a person than operating a traditional industrial robot. If Baxter picks up something it shouldn’t on the assembly line, for instance, work-ers can take its arm and move the robot to put the object down.

Baxter also contains a variety of sensors, including depth sensors as well as cameras in its wrists, so it “sees” with its hands. It is constantly building and adjusting a mathematical model of the world in front of it, enabling it to recognize dif-ferent objects.

Another benefi t of Baxter is that other factory workers can train it. In fact, a factory worker who has never seen a robot before can learn to train Baxter to do simple tasks in fi ve

minutes. For example, a worker can show Baxter a part of the task she is asking the robot to perform, and Baxter can infer the rest of the task. Also, if a human is interacting with Baxter or doing part of the task, the robot can fi gure out how to perform the rest of the task.

The ResultsRethink Robotics launched Baxter on September 18, 2012. It is therefore too early to evaluate this technology. It is worth noting, however, that by mid-2013 Baxter had been “hired” by one company and was being tested by several others.

Specifi cally, Baxter was working at a K’Nex (www.knex.com) plant outside Philadelphia, helping to stack Super Mario toys and ship them to China. Later in 2013, Baxter is scheduled to begin working at three plastics companies: Rodon (www.rodongroup.com), Nypro (www.nypro.com), and Vanguard Plastics Corporation (www.vanguardplastics.com).

Let’s take a closer look at Vanguard Plastics, a small com-pany with $6 million in annual revenue. Vanguard operates state-of-the-art automated electric presses that crush plastic pellets into different shapes under 1,000 atmospheres of pres-sure. Custom-built industrial robots—running on overhead tracks—swing down to collect the fi nished parts and place them on a conveyor.

Vanguard’s key statistic is sales divided by man-hours. Van-guard executives claim that for the company to stay in business, this statistic must improve by 1 percent or more every year. The only way to accomplish this goal is to increase productivity.

One routine job that is still performed by hand is packing parts. Coming off one of the presses are small, textured, plastic cups, which Vanguard sells for 2 cents each to a medical com-pany that uses them to package liquid medicines. A worker from a temporary agency, earning $9 per hour, stacks the cups and then fl icks a plastic bag over the stacks.

This is the job for which Vanguard is testing Baxter. Van-guard claims that if Baxter can eliminate one temporary worker—a move that would earn back the company’s invest-ment in a single year—then the company will buy Baxter. However, for the cup-stacking job, Baxter will need a specially designed gripper, which Rethink Robotics is developing. The company is also developing software that will enable Baxter to communicate with other machines. For example, Baxter would be able to tell the conveyor when to move forward or stop.

Sources: Compiled from R. Brooks, “Robots at Work: Toward a Smarter Factory,” The Futurist, May–June, 2013; G. Anderson, “Help Wanted: Robots to Fill Service Jobs,” Retail Wire, April 10, 2013; J. Young, “The New Industrial Revolution,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 25, 2013; L. Kratochwill, “Rethink’s Bax-ter Robot Got a Job Packaging Toys and Sending Them to China,” Fast Company, February 26, 2013; A. Regalado, “Small Factories Give Baxter the Robot a Cautious Once-Over,” MIT Technology Review, January 16, 2013; T. Geron, “The Robots Are Coming,” Forbes, November 12, 2012; W. Knight, “This Robot Could Transform Manufacturing,” MIT Technology Review, September 18, 2012; F. Harrop, “Buckle Up for the Robot Revolution,” Rasmussen Reports, September 18, 2012; K. Alspach, “Rethink Robotics Unveils ‘Human-Like’ Robot,” Boston Business Journal, Septem-ber 18, 2012; J. Markoff, “Skilled Work, Without the Worker,” The New York Times, August 19, 2012; J. Leber, “The Next Wave of Factory Robots,” MIT Technology Review, July 23, 2012; www.rethinkrobotics.com, accessed April 4, 2013.


33Internship Activity

Questions

1. Rethink Robotics claims that Baxter will not necessarily replace workers; rather, it will enable workers to transi-tion into higher-paying jobs. Will Baxter replace workers

in small manufacturing companies? Why or why not? Support your answer.

2. Discuss the possible reactions of labor unions to Baxter.3. Discuss additional potential applications for Baxter.

[ Internship Activity ]Banking IndustryInformation Systems impact every facet of an organization. This is especially true in the banking industry. Information Systems have revolutionized the way customers interact with banks, pay bills, manage accounts, and more. Information Systems now make it easier to communicate with customers via e-statements, use databases make loan decisions, monitor account status, and much, much more.

For this Internship Activity, you will work for Jeremy Farr, Associate Vice President and IT Offi cer of Noble Bank & Trust in Anniston, AL. Jeremy is working hard to bring Noble Bank into the “21st Century” in regards to technology. In some cases, this requires a complete overhaul of hardware, software, and user training. Jeremy would like for you to do some research on the web to see if you can fi nd examples of how other banks have implemented Information Systems to their advantage.

Please visit the Book Companion Site to receive the full set of instructions.


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Chapter 1myresource.phoenix.edu/secure/resource/CIS105r3/Introduction_to... · 4 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Information Systems Then, in January 2012, Barnes & Noble warned analysts