CSM21 Strategic Information Management Information Systems

CSM21 Strategic Information Management

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Information Systems • What are Information Systems?


– Systems used to manage, collate and distribute information – Essential for modern organisations – Foundation of business processes

Introduction

• They are not technology

– Such systems could be manual, rather than technological – However, manual systems are impractical for the volume of information that is processed daily by an organisation

Matthew Casey

[email protected]

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Business process examples: •Developing a new product, •Generating and fulfilling an order, •Hiring staff. Distribution of knowledge – example of UniS Intranet. Contains information for staff and students, library services, research applications, job vacancies.

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IT and IS

Data and Information

• What is Information Technology?

• Data

– Any form of technology used by people to handle information

– Streams of raw facts

• Information

• What are Information Systems?

– Data interpreted in a meaningful way

– Integrated components processing, storing and disseminating information – Interdisciplinary study of systems that provide information to users in organisations

• Informatics – The study of information, information systems and information technology

Pyle, I.C. & Illingworth, V. (Eds) (1996). Oxford Dictionary of Computing, 4th Edition. Oxford / New York: Oxford University Press

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Information Systems: interrelated components working together to collect, process, store, and disseminate information to support decision making, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization in an organization

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For example, a set of numbers is data, whereas information is interpreting these numbers as a set of exam marks.

Information Technology: the foundation upon which IS are built.

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Experiences of IT and IS

MIS

• Examples of IT

• Management Information Systems

– The study of information systems focusing on their use in business and management

– Hardware (PC, UNIX server) – Software (e-mail, Internet, Windows, Word) – Consumer devices (mobiles)

• Approaches

– Technical – Behavioural – Sociotechnical

• Examples of IS

– e-commerce systems – Enterprise business systems, such as student record systems – Uses technology to integrate the business

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• Traditionally MIS was concerned with managers – Now covers organisations in a broader sense

• As IT professionals you need to appreciate the context in which technology is used 5

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IT infrastructure is the foundation upon which IS are built.

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Why is IS Important?

Global Economy

• For an organisation to survive and prosper, it needs:

• Growing percentage of UK economy relies upon import and export

– Information at different locations – Support for product and service delivery – Improved efficiency and reduced costs to meet legislative / ethical / moral constraints

– Organisations have become international

• In the UK in 2004 (Mahajan, 2006): – – – –

• Environment: – – – –

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Global economy Knowledge- or information-based society Modern business structure Technology as an opportunity for businesses © Matthew Casey

We imported more than exported (by £35.0b) Goods deficit £60.9b and services surplus £25.9b The export of goods is falling, services is growing Computer services ranked as the top growth industry in the last 10 years

Mahajan, S. (Ed) (2006). United Kingdom Input-Output Analyses, 2006 Edition. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy/Input_Output_Analyses_2006_edition.pdf. London, UK: Office for National Statistics. [Accessed 20-12-06.]

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The emergence of the Internet provided new business models, such as e-business and e-commerce. Furthermore, this trend is increasing, especially with web services and the like. Such global IT infrastructure is eliminating technical, geographic and cost carriers for global organisations. Most organisations require IS to operate (core). Some even have IS as their reason for operating, for example e-commerce web sites. More traditional examples include companies that have adopted IS to run their business, such as IBM. Digital links include e-commerce, e-business and business-to-business (b2b).

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UK Import/Export: 2004

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Information-based Society • ICT is largest growing industry in the UK – Weighted 382% growth from 1992 to 2004

• Change of employment profiles: – Less manufacturing – More service industry

• Low wage countries: Mahajan 2006:14

– Manufacturing shifted off-shore – IT off-shoring: code and support

Mahajan 2006:33

United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current market prices Gross Value Added (GVA) at current basic prices Covering the period 1992-2004

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Computer Services

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UK Labour Force 1978-2006 UK Workforce Jobs (Seasonally Adjusted 11/12/2006) 9000

Education, health

8000

Distribution, hotels, restaurants

6000

Banking, finance, insurance

5000 4000

Manufacturing

3000

Construction Other services Transport & communication Agriculture, fishing

2000 1000 0

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02

00

98

96

94

04 20

20

20

19

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90

88

86

84

82

92

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80

Mining, utilities 19

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United Kingdom Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current market prices Gross Value Added (GVA) at current basic prices Covering the period 1992-2004

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Mahajan 2006:37

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Workforce (1000s)

7000

Y ear

Office for National Statistics (2006). Labour Market Statistics – Integrated FR, Workforce jobs by industry: Standard Industrial Classification (1992). http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/TSDdownload1.asp. [Accessed 20-12-06].

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Modern Business Structure

Technology

• The way businesses operate has changed significantly

• Technology can make an organisation: – Flexible – More efficient

– Change from hierarchical organisations to a flatter structure – Customer focus and the need for flexibility to capitalise on markets and beat competition

• Some completely depend upon technology • Is IT a commodity (Carr 2003)? – On a par with railways, electricity supply, … – No longer providing competitive advantage

• Relies on instant information – Technology as a means to deliver information at the right time to the right place Spring 2007

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Carr, N.G. (2003). IT Doesn’t Matter. Harvard Business Review, vol. 81(5), pp. 41-49. Carr, N.G. (2005). The End of Corporate Computing. MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 46(3), pp. 67-73.

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Hierarchical business organisations had people in specific roles working to specific Standard Operating Procedures. In order to be flexible and competitive, businesses now have more flattened structures where people have more general roles, relying on the access to (near) instant information to fulfil the role they are performing at any given time. For example, a task force set up to produce a proposal for work, learning about the opportunity and targeting the customer’s needs.

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Technology now underpins all aspects of business. Carr (2003) argues that it has developed into an infrastructural technology, like railways, electricity, etc. As such, no competitive advantage is gained explicitly by using IT, but businesses would not be able to operate without out. Furthermore, IT can no longer been seen as a matter for strategy, just like a company does not consider electricity supply as a matter of strategy. Advantage may only be gained for a short time.

See also: http://www.nicholasgcarr.com/articles/matter.html For example, such flatter organisations have been implemented by AT&T, IBM and General Motors, removing approximately 30000 middle managers. This, of course, brings in ethical considerations.

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Module Aim

Learning Outcomes

• To equip you with knowledge of how to approach the evaluation of an organisation’s IS needs and to propose how IS can be used • Provide an understanding of

• Critically evaluate the role of IT and IS within the management of modern, global organisations • Recognise that IT professionals need to be able to apply a range of different techniques to discover how an organisation may successfully use IS • Contrast the types of organisational change that can occur, reflecting upon sociological issues • Define an appropriate strategy for an organisation that identifies ways in which the organisation’s aims can be achieved

– – – – –

IS as opposed to IT Organisations and business processes Impact on organisations of IS Analysing organisations and strategy Planning and managing change

• To give you the skills necessary to:

– Consider the relationship between the strategic goals of an organisation and possible IT solutions – Investigate the strategic options there are for an organisation’s use of IT

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Learning Outcomes

Key Concepts

• Propose how an organisation may exploit new technologies in order to successfully implement organisational and technological change • Formulate a business systems proposal for the implementation of IS within an organisation, taking into account technological, sociological and human factors, and including costs, benefits and risks

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IT is a tool

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IT directors must

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Relating a Computing degree to the real-world

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– Used to achieve organisational goals efficiently and to minimise costs – To handle large volumes of information and complex processing – To provide opportunities – – – –

Understand the relevant technology Understand the environment in which it is to be used Develop relevant IT strategies to meet an organisation’s goals Exploit the opportunities that IT can bring within an organisation’s strategy – Assess available solutions financially to determine benefit – Applying your knowledge of IT to a business context – Using your knowledge of (software) engineering approaches to the development of strategic solutions

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Topics

Topics

• Introduction • Information Systems in Organisations:

• Planning and Managing Change: – Planning change – Finance of change – Managing change

– Business processes and functions – Organisation types and strategy – Management and decision making

• Organisational Analysis and Change: – Organisational analysis – Organisational change – Service provision

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Delivery

Support

• Lectures and seminars:

• I expect you all to:

– 30 contact hours in Weeks 1 to 10

• Case studies – Used throughout as tutorials on key topics – Module notes, calendar, coursework and resources – Make sure you can all access the module

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Turn up on time Interact, discuss, ask and answer questions Post questions relevant to the whole class on ULearn Check your e-mail daily for announcements Submit work on time

– – – – – – –

Turn up on time Interact, discuss, ask and answer questions Respond to ULearn discussions on Monday and Thursday Answer e-mails promptly (within 2 working days) Mark your work and give appropriate feedback within 2 weeks Office hours: Monday 3:00 to 4:00, Thursday 10:00 to 11:00 E-mail for an appointment

• You should expect me to:

• ULearn

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Assessment

Coursework

• Coursework: 40%

• Perform a review of current trends on a specific theme selected from examples

– – – –

Investigating and presenting current trends Group presentation, individual written submission Developing a strategic proposal for a case study Individual written submission

– Individual written review – Group investigation and (informal) class presentation – Using the knowledge you’ve gained to define a strategy for an organisation to overcome its problems

• Examination: 60%

• In two parts:

– 2 questions out of 3 from all module topics – Revision lecture at end of module

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– Coursework 1 (10%): organisational strategy – Coursework 2 (30%): proposal for strategic change 23

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Coursework 1

Coursework 2

• Organisational strategy

• Proposal for strategic change

– – – – – – –

Group investigation Selected theme for presentation Presentation for peer feedback and dissemination Group size from 4 to 6 – aim for 5 people Maximum number of groups allowed: 8 Individual written literature review 10% of module

– – – – –

• Deadline

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Analysis of case study Mission statement Informatics strategy Plan for changing the business 30% of module

• Deadline

– Presentation Week 6 (during classes) – Review Week 8: Monday 5th March 12:00 noon – Electronic submission: ULearn assignment

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– Week 11: Monday 23rd April 12:00 noon – Electronic submission: ULearn assignment

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Texts

Texts

Laudon, K.C. & Laudon, J.P. (2002). Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 7th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall International, Inc.

• Module material mostly based upon Laudon & Laudon (2002, 2004, 2006) and Beynon-Davies (2003)

Also 8E (2004), 9E (2006)

Beynon-Davies, P. (2002). Information Systems: An Introduction to Informatics in Organisations. Basingstoke, UK.: Palgrave Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Whiteley, D. (2004). Introduction to Information Systems: Organisations, Applications, Technology and Design. Basingstoke, UK.: Palgrave Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Schwalbe, K. (2005). Information Technology Project Management, 4th Edition. Boston, MA: Thomson Course Technology. Laudon, K.C. & Laudon, J.P. (2004). Essentials of Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, 6th Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall International, Inc.

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– Some material based upon Whiteley (2004) – Some on current business articles/statistics

• Most of Planning and Managing Change based upon my own experiences and those of Malcolm McKee (LogicaCMG) 27

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Texts Topic

BeynonDavies

Laudon & Laudon 2002, 7E

2000, 6E

2003

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Information Systems 2, 3, in Organisations 15.1, 10

2, 3, 13.1, 14, 15

2, 3, 11.1, 14, 16

2, 3, 16, 17

4, 5, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

Organisational Analysis and Change

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16, 33, 40

Planning and Managing Change

15.2, 15.3

13.2, 13.3

11.2, 11.3

2006, 9E 2004, 8E Introduction

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