Essential Business and Information Technology Concepts
Key Business and Information Technology Definitions
Business Functions
Specialized tasks performed within a business organization, including manufacturing and production, sales and marketing, finance and accounting, and human resources.
Business Model
An abstraction of what an enterprise is and how it delivers a product or service, demonstrating how the enterprise creates wealth.
Business Processes
The unique ways organizations coordinate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to produce a product or service.
Complementary Assets
Additional assets required to derive value from a primary investment.
Computer Hardware
Physical equipment used for input, processing, and output activities within an information system.
Computer Literacy
Knowledge about information technology, focusing on understanding how computer-based technologies work.
Computer Software
Detailed, preprogrammed instructions that control and coordinate the work of computer hardware components within an information system.
Culture
The set of fundamental assumptions about what products an organization should produce, how and where it should produce them, and for whom they should be produced.
Data
Streams of raw facts representing events occurring in organizations or the physical environment before being organized and arranged into a form that people can understand and use.
Data Management Technology
Software governing the organization of data on physical storage media.
Data Workers
Individuals such as secretaries or bookkeepers who process an organization’s paperwork.
Digital Firm
An organization where nearly all significant business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, and employees are digitally enabled, and key corporate assets are managed through digital means.
Extranet
A private intranet that is accessible to authorized outsiders.
Feedback
Output that is returned to the appropriate members of an organization to help them evaluate or correct input.
Information
Data that has been shaped into a form that is meaningful and useful to human beings.
Information System
Interrelated components working together to collect, process, store, and disseminate information to support decision-making, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization within an organization.
Information Systems Literacy
A broad-based understanding of information systems that includes behavioral knowledge about organizations and individuals using information systems, as well as technical knowledge about computers.
Information Technology (IT)
All the hardware and software technologies a firm needs to achieve its business objectives.
Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure
Computer hardware, software, data, storage technology, and networks providing a portfolio of shared IT resources for an organization.
Input
The capture or collection of raw data from within an organization or from its external environment for processing in an information system.
Internet
A global network of networks using universal standards to connect millions of different networks.
Intranet
An internal network based on Internet and World Wide Web technology and standards.
Knowledge Workers
Individuals such as engineers or architects who design products or services and create knowledge for an organization.
Management Information Systems (MIS)
A specific category of information system providing reports on organizational performance to help middle management monitor and control the business.
Middle Management
Individuals in the middle of the organizational hierarchy who are responsible for carrying out the plans and goals of senior management.
Network
The linking of two or more computers to share data or resources, such as a printer.
Networking and Telecommunications Technology
Physical devices and software that link various computer hardware components and transfer data from one physical location to another.
Operational Management
Individuals who monitor the day-to-day activities of an organization.
Organizational and Management Capital
Investments in organization and management, such as new business processes, management behavior, organizational culture, or training.
Output
The distribution of processed information to the individuals who will use it or to the activities for which it will be used.
Processing
The conversion, manipulation, and analysis of raw input into a form that is more meaningful to humans.
Production or Service Workers
Individuals who actually produce the products or services of an organization.
Senior Management
Individuals occupying the topmost hierarchy in an organization who are responsible for making long-range decisions.
Sociotechnical View
Seeing systems as composed of both technical and social elements.
World Wide Web
A system with universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information in a networked environment.