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ACSC105Ethical Issues on Information Systems

Managing Change

Week/Lecture 5Eleni Michailidou

Resources: Dr. Panos Constantinides & Prentice Hall Slides

27/10/09 ACSC105 - Business Inform. Systems 2

Outline

• How information systems impactorganizations– Ethical impacts

• Building Systems

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Does Location Tracking ThreatenPrivacy?

• Problem: New opportunities from new technology and need for greater security.• Solutions: Redesigning business processes and products to support location

monitoring increases sales and security.• Deploying GPS and RFID tracking devices with a location tracking database

enables location monitoring.• Demonstrates IT’s role in creating new opportunities for improved business

performance• Illustrates how technology can be a double-edged sword by providing benefits

such as increased sales and security while compromising privacy.⇒ Ethical dilemma

⇒ Need to be aware of the negative impacts of information systems⇒ Need to balance the negative consequences with the positive ones


Ethical and Social Issues related to Systems

• Ethics• Principles of right and wrong that individuals, acting as free

moral agents, use to make choices to guide their behavior• Information systems and ethics

• Information systems raise new ethical questions becausethey create opportunities for:

• Intense social change, threatening existing distributionsof power, money, rights, and obligations

• New kinds of crime

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Ethical Impact - The moral dimensions

Ethical issues raised by information systems:1. Information rights and obligations2. Property rights and obligations3. Accountability and control4. System quality5. Quality of life


1. Information rights and obligations

• Privacy– Claim of individuals to be left alone, free

from surveillance or interference from otherindividuals, organizations, or the state.

– The claim to be able to control informationabout yourself

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European Directive on information rightsand obligations

• Requires companies to inform people whenthey collect information about them anddisclose how it will be stored and used.

• Requires informed consent of customer (nottrue in the U.S.)

• EU member nations cannot transfer personaldata to countries without similar privacyprotection (e.g. U.S.)


2. Property Rights: Intellectual Property

• Intellectual property: Intangible property of any kindcreated by individuals or corporations

• Three ways that intellectual property is protected– Trade secret: Intellectual work or product belonging to

business, not in the public domain– Copyright: Statutory grant protecting intellectual property

from being copied for the life of the author, plus 70 years– Patents: Grants creator of invention an exclusive monopoly

on ideas behind invention for 20 years

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Challenges to Intellectual Property Rights

• Digital media different from physical media (e.g.books)– Ease of replication– Ease of transmission (networks, Internet)– Difficulty in classifying a software work as a program, book,

or even music– Compactness - making theft easy– Difficulties in establishing uniqueness– Ex: recording industry vs P2P networks (Napster etc)

• Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA)• Makes it illegal to circumvent technology-based protections

of copyrighted materials


3. Accountability, Liability, Control

• Computer-related liability problems– If software fails, who is responsible?

• If seen as a part of a machine that injures or harms,software producer and operator may be liable

• If seen as similar to a book, difficult to hold softwareauthor/publisher responsible

• What should liability be if software is seen as service?Would this be similar to telephone systems not beingliable for transmitted messages (so-called “commoncarriers”)

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4. System Quality: Data Quality and SystemErrors

• What is an acceptable, technologically feasible levelof system quality?– Flawless software is economically unfeasible

• Three principal sources of poor system performance:– Software bugs, errors– Hardware or facility failures caused by natural or other

causes– Poor input data quality (most common source of business

system failure)


5. Quality of Life

• Negative social consequences of systems– Balancing power: Although computing power is

decentralizing, key decision-making power remainscentralized

– Rapidity of change: Businesses may not have enough timeto respond to global competition

– Maintaining boundaries: Computing and Internet uselengthens the work-day, infringes on family, personal time

– Dependence and vulnerability: Public and privateorganizations ever more dependent on computer systems

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The Impacts of Broadband Telephony Service

• What are some of the organizationaland ethical impacts of CYTA’s serviceof Broadband Telephony for businessorganizations and individuals?


Building Systems

• Systems as planned organizationalchange

• Overview of systems development

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Organizational Change Carries Risks and RewardsOrganizational Change Carries Risks and Rewards

The most common forms of organizationalchange are automation and rationalization. Theserelatively slow-moving and slow-changingstrategies present modest returns but little risk.Faster and more comprehensive change—suchas reengineering and paradigm shifts—carrieshigh rewards but offers substantial chances offailure.

Systems as Planned Organizational Change



• Business process reengineering (BPR)– Helps firms manage process changes

through use of process-mapping tools to:• Identify and document existing processes• Create models of improved processes that can

be translated into software systems

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• BPR includes– Work flow management– Business process modeling notation– Quality measurement and management– Change management– Tools for standardizing business processes so

they can be continually manipulated– Process monitoring and analytics

• To verify process performance has improved andmeasure impact of process changes on key businessperformance indicators



• Quality management:• Fine-tuning business processes to improve quality in their products,

services, and operations• The earlier in the business cycle a problem is eliminated, the less it

costs the company• Quality improvements raise level of product and service quality as well

as lower costs• Total Quality Management (TQM):

• Achievement of quality control is end in itself

• Everyone is expected to contribute to improvement of quality

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• Information systems support qualityimprovements by helping firms:• Simplify products or processes

• Make improvements based on customer demands

• Reduce cycle time

• Improve quality and precision of design and production

• Meet benchmarking standards

• Benchmarking: Setting strict standards for products, services,and other activities, and then measuring performance againstthose standards



• Systems development: Activities that go intoproducing an information system solution to anorganizational problem or opportunity

• Systems analysis

• Systems design

• Programming

• Testing

• Conversion

• Production and maintenance

Overview of Systems Development

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The Systems Development ProcessThe Systems Development Process

Building a system can be broken down into six core activities.



Overview of Systems Development• Systems analysis

• Analysis of problem• Defining the problem and identifying causes• Specifying solutions

• Written systems proposal report describes costs and benefits ofeach alternative solution

• Identifying information requirements to be met• Who needs what information where, when, and how

• Includes feasibility study• Is solution a good investment?• Is required technology, skill available?

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• Systems design• Describe system specifications that will deliver functions

identified during systems analysis

• Should address all managerial, organizational, andtechnological components of system solution

• Role of end users• User information requirements drive system-building

• Users must have sufficient control over design process toensure that system reflects their business priorities andinformation needs

• Insufficient user involvement in design effort is major cause ofsystem failure



DOCUMENTATIONOperations documentationSystems documentsUser documentation

CONVERSIONTransfer filesInitiate new proceduresSelect testing methodCut over to new system

TRAININGSelect training techniquesDevelop training modulesIdentify training facilities

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGESTask redesignJob redesignProcess designOrganization structure designReporting relationships

PROCESSINGComputationsProgram modulesRequired reportsTiming of outputs

MANUAL PROCEDURESWhat activitiesWho performs themWhenHowWhere

CONTROLSInput controls (characters, limit, reasonableness)Processing controls (consistency, record counts)Output controls (totals, samples of output)Procedural controls (passwords, special forms)

SECURITYAccess controlsCatastrophe plansAudit trails

OUTPUTMediumContentTiming

INPUTOriginsFlowData entry

USER INTERFACESimplicityEfficiencyLogicFeedbackErrors

DATABASE DESIGNLogical data modelVolume and speedrequirementsFile organization anddesignRecord specifications

Design SpecificationsDesign Specifications

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Overview of Systems Development• Programming:

• System specifications from design stage are translated intosoftware program code

• Software may be purchased, leased, or outsourced instead

• Testing• To ensure system produces right results• Test plan: All preparations for series of tests• Unit testing: Tests each program in system separately• System testing: Tests functioning of system as a whole• Acceptance testing: Makes sure system is ready to be used

in production setting


Overview of Systems Development• Conversion

• Process of changing from old system to new system

• Four main strategies

• Parallel strategy

• Direct cutover

• Pilot study

• Phased approach

• Requires end-user training

• Finalization of detailed documentation showing how system worksfrom technical and end-user standpoint

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Overview of Systems Development• Production and maintenance

• System reviewed to determine if any revisions needed

• May prepare formal postimplementation audit document

• Maintenance• Changes in hardware, software, documentation, or procedures

to a production system to correct errors, meet newrequirements, or improve processing efficiency

• 60 percent of maintenance work:

• User enhancements

• Improving documentation

• Recoding system components for greater processing efficiency



Operate the systemEvaluate the systemModify the system

Production andmaintenance

Plan conversionPrepare documentationTrain users and technical staff

Conversion

Unit testSystems testAcceptance test

Testing

Translate design specifications intocode

Programming

Create design specificationsSystems design

Identify problem(s)Specify solutionsEstablish information requirements

Systems analysis

DESCRIPTIONCORE ACTIVITY

Summary of Systems Development ActivitiesSummary of Systems Development Activities

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• Most prominent methodologies for modeling anddesigning systems:

• Structured methodologies

• Object-oriented development

• Structured methodologies

• Structured: Techniques are step-by-step, progressive

• Process-oriented: Focusing on modeling processes oractions that manipulate data

• Separate data from processes



• Data flow diagram:• Primary tool for representing system’s component processes and flow

of data between them

• Offers logical graphic model of information flow

• High-level and lower-level diagrams can be used to break processesdown into successive layers of detail

• Data dictionary: Defines contents of data flows and data stores

• Process specifications: Describe transformation occurring withinlowest level of data flow diagrams

• Structure chart: Top-down chart, showing each level of design,relationship to other levels, and place in overall design structure

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Data Flow Diagram for Mail-In University Registration SystemData Flow Diagram for Mail-In University Registration System

The system has threeprocesses: Verifyavailability (1.0), Enrollstudent (2.0), andConfirm registration(3.0). The name andcontent of each of thedata flows appearadjacent to each arrow.There is one externalentity in this system:the student. There aretwo data stores: thestudent master file andthe course file.



High-Level Structure Chart for a Payroll SystemHigh-Level Structure Chart for a Payroll System

This structure chart shows the highest or most abstract level of design for a payroll system, providing an overviewof the entire system. It shows each level of the design, its relationship to other levels and its place in the overalldesign structure.


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• Object-oriented development• Uses object as basic unit of systems analysis and design

• Object:• Combines data and the specific processes that operate on those data

• Data encapsulated in object can be accessed and modified only byoperations, or methods, associated with that object

• Object-oriented modeling based on concepts of class andinheritance

• Objects belong to a certain class and have features of that class

• May inherit structures and behaviors of a more general, ancestorclass


Class and InheritanceClass and Inheritance

This figure illustrates how classes inherit the common features of theirsuperclass.


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• Object-oriented development• More iterative and incremental than traditional structured

development

• Systems analysis: Interactions between system and usersanalyzed to identify objects

• Design phase: Describes how objects will behave and interact;grouped into classes, subclasses and hierarchies

• Implementation: Some classes may be reused from existinglibrary of classes, others created or inherited

• Because objects reusable, object-oriented development canpotentially reduce time and cost of development



• Computer-aided software engineering (CASE)• Software tools to automate development and reduce

repetitive work, including• Graphics facilities for producing charts and diagrams

• Screen and report generators, reporting facilities

• Analysis and checking tools

• Data dictionaries

• Code and documentation generators

• May be front-end or back-end tools

• Support iterative design by automating revisions andchanges and providing prototyping facilities

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Alternative Systems-Building Approaches

• Traditional systems lifecycle:• Oldest method for building information systems

• Phased approach - divides development into formal stages

• Follows “waterfall” approach: Tasks in one stage finishbefore another stage begins

• Maintains formal division of labor between end users andinformation systems specialists

• Emphasizes formal specifications and paperwork

• Still used for building large complex systems

• Can be costly, time-consuming, and inflexible



• Prototyping• Building experimental system rapidly and inexpensively for

end users to evaluate

• Prototype: Working but preliminary version of informationsystem

• Approved prototype serves as template for final system

• Steps in prototyping1. Identify user requirements

2. Develop initial prototype

3. Use prototype

4. Revise and enhance prototype

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Class and InheritanceClass and Inheritance

The process of developing aprototype can be brokendown into four steps.Because a prototype can bedeveloped quickly andinexpensively, systemsbuilders can go throughseveral iterations, repeatingsteps 3 and 4, to refine andenhance the prototypebefore arriving at the finaloperational one.




• Advantages of prototyping• Useful if some uncertainty in requirements or design

solutions• Often used for end-user interface design• More likely to fulfill end-user requirements

• Disadvantages• May gloss over essential steps• May not accommodate large quantities of data or large

number of users• May not undergo full testing or documentation

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• End-user development:• Uses fourth-generation languages to allow end-users to

develop systems with little or no help from technical specialists• Fourth generation languages:

• Less procedural than conventional programming languages• 7 categories: PC software tools, query languages, report

generators, graphics languages, application generators, applicationsoftware packages, and very high-level programming languages

• Advantages:• More rapid completion of projects, high-level of user satisfaction

• Disadvantages:• Not designed for processing-intensive applications, inadequate

control, testing, documentation, or adherence to standards



• Application software packages• Save time and money• Many packages offer customization features:

• Allow software package to be modified to meet uniquerequirements without destroying integrity of package software

• Evaluation criteria for systems analysis include:• Functions provided by the package, flexibility, user friendliness,

hardware and software resources, database requirements,installation and maintenance efforts, documentation, vendorquality, and cost

• Request for Proposal (RFP)• Detailed list of questions submitted to packaged-software vendors

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• Outsourcing• Several types

• Application service providers (ASPs)• Subscribing companies use software and computer hardware provided

by ASP as technical platform for systems• Domestic or foreign external vendors

• Hired to design, create software

• Allows organization flexibility in IT needs• Allows vendors:

• Economies of scale• Enhance core competencies

• Disadvantages• Hidden costs, loss of control

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