ISYS 2006 Introduction

Week 1 Lecture 1

Course structureThis course will provide an introduction to some of the critical aspects and dimensions of information systems in contemporary organisations.

The content will be presented in three modules: 

1. Basic concepts in Information Systems2. The technology of Information Systems3. Some managerial aspects of Information

Systems

Administration

• Lecturers – – Hugh Springford

• Room: G82A • Email address: hugh@it.usyd.edu.au• Consultation hours: Friday 12:00 to 1:00pm

– Dr Liaquat Hossain• Room: G82C• Email address: lhossain@it.usyd.edu.au• Consultation hours: tba

• Course assistant -– Trevor Simpson

• Email address: tasnmeg@bigpond.net.au

Assessment

• Final exam worth 60% of the total mark (you must attain a minimum of 40%)

• Two individual assignments, each worth 15% of the final mark

• Two group tutorial presentations, each worth 5% of the final mark.

School policies

• All students must read and understand the School’s policy on academic honesty in the printed or on-line handbook at:

• http://www.it.usyd.edu.au/current_ugrad/handbook2004/policies.html#acadhonesty

• The important issue is to acknowledge the source you are quoting, whether that be a book or a web page

• You should also read the policy regarding Special consideration due to illness or misadventure

Text Book

Management Information Systems Managing the Digital firm

Kenneth C. LaudonJane P Laudon

Eighth edition 2004Pearson/Prentice Hall

Other course resources

• Course Web page– Course outline– Lecture slides– Tutorial questions– Readings– URLs for relevant information– Message board

What you should learn this week

• The nature of organisations, and the challenges that face organisations today

• The difference between data, information and knowledge

• The definition of an Information System and its use within an organisation

The nature of organisations, and the challenges that face

organisations today

What is an organisation?

• Identifiable body or institution

• With a defined purpose

• Having resources of land, capital, labour and information/knowledge

• Usually having a defined legal structure

• Sometimes being a part of a larger organisation

Examples of organisations

• University of Sydney• School of Information Technologies• Commonwealth Bank of Australia• PricewaterhouseCoopers• IBM• Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney• NSW Department of Environment & Conservation• NSW Government• Catholic Church• RPA Hospital• Drummoyne Rowing Club

Can you suggest another common characteristics of

organisations?

A complex but standardised method of operating.

They are systematic, orThey have systems, or perhaps

They are a system!

StaffCapital

Systems to achieve a PurposeInformation/Knowledge

Legal structure

An organisation is bounded, and exists within an environment.

Customers

Owners

Suppliers

Government

Organisations

• OPERATING PROCEDURES: Standard Business Processes, organisational routines and rules for action

• POLITICS: Factions and interest groups and the struggle for power and authority occasionally involving conflict.

• CULTURE: Fundamental assumptions and beliefs about most aspects of the org. – typically taken for granted and rarely discussed.

Characteristics of organisations

• PEOPLE: Managers, knowledge workers, data workers, production or service workers

• FORMAL STRUCTURE: Organization chart, distribution of work, authority and responsibility, grouping of specialists, reward systems, products, geography

Four major changes that challenge the business environment

• Globilisation

• Transformation of industrial economies

• Transformation of enterprises

• Emergence of the digital firm

Globilisation

• Globilisation is the the free movement of– Capital– Trade goods & services– People

• Implications– Management in a global marketplace– Global competition– Global work groups– Global delivery systems

Transformation of Industrial economies

• Information based – white collar workers in the USA constitute 60% of the workforce (sales, insurance, office, law, healthcare, financial services etc)

• Knowledge is a strategic asset

• Time based competition

• Shorter product life

Transformation of the enterprise

• Flattening of the management structure

• Decentralisation

• Location independent

• Collaborative workgroups – virtual teams

Emergence of the Digital firm

• Digital relationship with customers, suppliers and employees

• E-Commerce• Core business processes accomplished via

networks• Knowledge management• The system extends beyond organisational

boundaries

Data, Information and Knowledge

Data

Information

Knowledge

Data

Information

Knowledge

Your speedometer shows you are driving at 90kph.

Data

Information

Knowledge

Your speedometer shows you are driving at 90kph.

You are driving at 90kph, andYou are in a 50kph speed zone.

Data

Information

Knowledge

Your speedometer shows you are driving at 90kph.

You are driving at 90kph, andYou are in a 50kph speed zone.

You know you should slow down, because you are exceeding the speed limit by 40kph, with a probability thatyou will be caught and fined $230 andlose 6 points off your licence

Data

• Gives us one or more pieces of data

• By themselves, do not tell us anything particularly useful.

• Examples:– Invoice 12345 is for $9,000– ISYS2006 is a course code– The salary is $40,000

Information• Two or more bits of related data• Where the relationship tells us more than the sum of

the parts• Or it has been summarised or filtered in some

process• Examples

– Invoice 12345 is from IBM, for 3 new computers and the total is $9,000

– The average starting salary at Accenture for an IS graduate is $40,000

– There were 100 IS graduates from Sydney University in 2003

Knowledge

• Two or more pieces of information• That have been obtained from unrelated

sources• And related using judgement or

experience• Giving a new insight or understanding• That may have a degree of uncertainty• That could guide decisions or actions

The definition of an Information System and its use within an organisation

What is an Information System?

• An information system (IS) is a pre-established set of inter-related components that collect, process, store, and distribute information, to support decision making and control in an organisation. Laudon & Laudon

• Our primary interest in this course is on computer-based IS.

• An IS is almost always a component in a broader system.

Information Technologies (IT) Information System (IS)

• Information Technologies (IT) or Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) is an umbrella term used for a wide range of computer hardware, software, and telecommunications technologies,

• Information Systems (IS) refers to specific systems that use one or more of those information technologies

• IT provides the platform for an Information System

Information systems can be:

• Operational – – part of the day to day business– often part of a larger system that has physical

elements – eg a wholesalers delivery system that includes the movement of goods

• Managerial – – A feedback system for managing the business– A system to support strategic and technical

decisions– A repository of the organisation’s knowledge

Purchase order

Pickingslip

Goods &Deliverynote

Invoice

Cash

Customer

Bank

Our office

Our warehouse

Our delivery system

Information system components are:

• Defined business processes, that are– Manual, or– Imbedded in application software

• Staff trained in the use of the system• Application software that implements

– Some of the business processes– The interface between the staff & the computer system

• The technical platform, consisting of– Workstations and servers– Middleware & system software– Data storage devices and database management systems– Networks– Computer rooms

The role of an IS within an organisation

• Operational – humans invented writing numbers to manage trade

• Efficiency of operations• Feedback to management• Enabling the enterprise to meet the

challenges of the new environment• Enabling the enterprise to create a new

business model

Course content

• Today introduced some key concepts• General systems theory• Types of Information systems• The Digital firm• A case study of Dell as a digital firm• Hardware & The machine room• Application software, middleware and

systems software• Networks, The Internet & The Web

Course content (cont.)

• A case study on developing a major system for US security

• IS design and implementation• The business value of IT – measuring

productivity• IS ethics and social impacts• Data warehousing, decision support and

knowledge management