clarke, r. j (2001) l951-02: 1 critical issues in information systems buss 951 lecture 2 information...
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Clarke, R. J (2001) L951-02: 1
Critical Issues in Information Systems
BUSS 951
Lecture 2Information Systems as a Discipline;
History and State of the Art
Clarke, R. J (2001) L951-02: 2
Notices (1)General
Make sure you have a copy of the BUSS951 Subject Outline
Please check the class role being circulated for errors and correct them- if this is your first lecture then add your details to the bottom of the sheet
BUSS951 is supported by a website (available from Tomorrow), where you can find out the latest Notices and get Lecture Notes, Tutorial Sheets, Assignments etc
www.uow.edu.au\~rclarke\buss951\buss951.htm
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Your first assignment which must be written up in the form of a case study report will be posted to the BUSS951 website (tomorrow pm) Identify and Analyse the Theoretical, Methodological and
Substantive Levels in a Selected Research Area. The selected research area is based on one of the Dept. Information Systems research areas. You will need to find relevant papers in the Reader and/or from the published research literature.
These research papers (published journal articles and conference papers) need to be attached to your assignment- no web resources are to be used
It comprises 15% of the final mark and due Week 5 Thursday 24/8 at 17:30
Notices (2)Assignment 1
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Notices (3)Role of the Reader
there is a reader called:Clarke, R. J. (2001) Reader for BUSS951: Critical Issues in Information Systems 2nd Edition
it is a prime source of materials- some of the materials in it you cannot get anywhere else
you will be given readings each week to be done prior to seminars the following week
these will be of help in your assignments and will also be part of the examination
you are required to be able to discuss them in class- read and summarise them- then think about what they are are saying
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Notices (4)Readings for Week 3
1. Burton Swanson, E. (1987) Information Systems in Organization Theory: A Review
2. Kling, R. (1991) “Excerpts From ‘Social Analysis of Computing: Theoretical Perspectives in Recent Empirical Research’”
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Agenda (1)
Brief History of IS- discuss two basic ideas in IS Theory: General Systems Model Data and Information
At the end of the lecture you should understand that the basic IS theory is flawed
Provide a State-of-the-Art description of what is happening in IS
Describe the types of IS Research currently going on in the Department (relevant to Assignment 1)
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Brief History of IS
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Information Systems Theory
Information Systems Discipline = Concepts of ‘Systems’ + ‘Information’
both ‘systems’ and ‘information’ have considerable theoretical, methodological and substantive problems, ie/ are problematic
we will first examine the General Systems Model of Organisations
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General Systems ModelDevelopment
Contrary to what you may believe (or may have been taught) the IS Discipline did not develop the concept of the system
in fact the ‘General Systems Model’ was in wide circulation well before computers were invented
understanding how we got and how we use ‘general systems’ tells us a great deal about disciplines in general (and IS in particular)
the General Systems Model dates from the late 1920s-1930s
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General Systems ModelDevelopment
the work originates in Biologyuseful concepts emerge in population
dynamics (Lotka c.1907 and later)developed as a general model for biology
(von Bertalanffy c.1930s; 1968)entered sociology/political science in 1950s
and 1960sthe view of systems theorists is that the
general concept of a system can be applied to social systems ie. organisations
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Closed Systems
some systems are closed they are not influenced by their
environment, eg. solar systemhave entropy which describes how
these systems use up energy and run down
not useful to IS
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Open Systems
social systems are open systemscan import energy from the environmentcan sustain themselves in response to
changes in their environmentpossess negentropy, and can achieve
new states
they adapt
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Organisations as Systems (1)
Organisations are open system (contrast with closed systems)
a physical system of the firm transforms input resources into output resources
input resources come from environment, output resources go to environment
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Organisations as Systems (2)
physical resources:material flow (from suppliers to customers)personnel flow (from the labour market and
back)machine flow (from supplier to scrap yard)money flow (from owners who provide
investment capital and customers who buy goods)
TransformationProcess
OutputResources
InputResources
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Closed Loop Systems (1)
some open system can control operations, some cannot
when no feedback loop is provided for an open system then it is called an open-loop system
when feedback loop and control mechanism exists- closed loop system
control is provided by a loop- called a feedback loop
feedback consists of signals are sent to provide a corrective action
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Closed Loop System (2)
Control Mechanism
TransformationProcess
OutputResources
InputResources
Signal Feedback
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Physical System of an Organisation as a controlled system
Management
TransformationProcess
OutputResources
InputResources
Signal
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Information is Gathered from all Physical System Elements
Management
TransformationProcess
OutputResources
InputResources
Information Data
additional data-gathering activties at input and processing parts of the physical system
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Information Processor transforms data into information
for Management purposes
Management
TransformationProcess
OutputResources
InputResources
InformationProcessor
Information Data
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Performance Standards added to Mgnt and Information Processor
Management
TransformationProcess
OutputResources
InputResources
InformationProcessor
Standards
Information Data
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Changes to Physical SystemDecisions are added
& some signals re/classified
Management
TransformationProcess
OutputResources
InputResources
InformationProcessor
Standards
DecisionsInformation Data
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General Systems Model
Management
TransformationProcess
OutputResources
InputResources
InformationProcessor
Standards
Decisions
En
viro
nm
ent
Physical Information Data
Boundary
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Systems Approach to Decision Making
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Problem-solving Elements
manager
standards
info
solution
problem
alternatesolutions
constraints
desired
current
Elements of the conceptual system
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Structured, Unstructured, Semistructured Problems (1)
Management problems are often considered to be either structured or unstructured in nature
Important criteria as these are used to identify different types of system: Operational Systems, MIS, and DSS
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Structured Problemsconsist of elements and
relationships between elements which are understood by the problem solver
problem expressed in mathematical form and therefore probably implementable
Structured, Unstructured, Semistructured Problems (2)
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Structured, Unstructured, Semistructured Problems (3)
Unstructured Problemcontains no elements or
relationships between elements which are understood by the problem solver
quantification of unstructured problems is difficult if not impossible
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Semistructured Problemcontains some elements or
relationships between elements that are understood by the problem solver
other elements or relationships between elements may not be understood at all
Structured, Unstructured, Semistructured Problems (4)
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Structured, Unstructured, Semistructured Problems (5)
Is there such a thing as a structured problem? This already presupposes a particular type of solution!
computers can solve structured problems
most managers deal with semistructured problems
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Introduction to MIS (1)
computers first applied to business tasksaccounting functionsspecific functional areas eg./ order entry
today computers used also to provide management information
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Introduction to MIS (2)
as we will see the information needs of Management are different from the information needs of other system users
also, management has special responsibilities and obligations in organisations- require managed information
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Introduction to MIS (3)
General Definition of MIS: A systems that provides the manager with information for decision making.
Either, the general information needs of managers or, all managers in a specific functional area
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Oth
ersMembers of Organisations
Distinct TypesM
anag
emen
t
Strategic Planning Level top level managers, long term view, organisational
wide scope Management Control Level
middle level managers, regional managers, product directors and division heads
Operational Control Levelwhere operations occur in the organisation, example
foreman in factories Operations
workers, clerks etc...
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Members of OrganisationsAssociated with ‘Hierarchy’
Strategic Planning
Management Control
Operational
Operational Control
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Categories of ISAssociated with ‘Hierarchy’
Increasing Uncertainty
Strategic PlanningEIS, DSS, GDSS, ES
Management ControlMIS, MkIS
OperationalTPS (EDP)
Operational ControlAIS, MIS
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Major Categories of MIS
Major types of information systems for managementManagement Information Systems (MIS)Decision Support Systems (DSS)Expert Systems (ES)Office Automation Systems (OA)
Linked to Operational Systems
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Problems that Result
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Social Systems are harmful
in sociology...“Although hugely influential at the time... [attempts] to found a new general theory of... social systems [are] now adjudged a relative failure” (Jary & Jary 1991, 649)
there are therefore some obvious questions...
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Isn’t ‘system’ OK for IS?
couldn’t it be suitable for IS but not suitable for sociology?well this is possiblenot likelywe find some theoretical problems with
‘systems’ as a way of modelling workplaces
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Some technologies don’t fit
MIS do fit (EIS, DSS, GDSS, MIS, MkIS, AIS etc) and therefore by definition Operational Systems that feed them data
but others do not because they span all levels of the hierarchy, Office AutomationEDI (Electronic Data Interchange)e-mail and most intranet technologies
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Why use ‘system’
why does the information systems discipline still use it?to answer this question we look at why
sociology thinks ‘social systems’ are a failure
‘conservative’ assumptions about the integration of social systems
levels of abstraction that are removed from the workplace
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Why use ‘system’
relative neglect of the independent influence of individual members- this involves what are referred to as issues of agency
systems concepts cannot be used to address the effects of culture on development and use of IS
there are alternatives to ‘social system’ explanations of organisations
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Information SystemsTypical Definition
“[An information system]...is a grouping of people, objects and procedures... [providing] information about the organization and its environment... which is useful to members and clients of that organization”
Paraphrase Avison and Fitzgerald (1988, 1)
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Data & Information
data is easy to identify and is created with purposes in mind
but information depends on who, what, where, how and when
for closed, biological systems the idea of information is great!
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Data & Information
organisations are not axiomatic (rule determined)
the members can change the internal and external processes of the organisation
information becomes difficult to define/changes- just ask any systems developer
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Data & Informationconcept of information relies on
Shannon & Weaver (c. 1940s)defines information in terms which
exclude meaningin other words the second basis of our
discipline (the concept of information) is theoretically inappropriate for use when developing systems
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Information SystemsDefinitional Problems
analysis, design and implementation practices focus on the people, objects and procedures
rarely focus on the use of systems- the purposes of systems in given organisational contexts
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Summary
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Summary
Critical IssuesAre organisations really systems?What is information?What does the IS Discipline do?
Further IssuesHow might organisations be theorised? How can we improve IS Development
Practices?