Essential Information Systems & Business Technology Concepts
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a service provided by the internet that uses universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information in a page format.
Enterprise Applications
Enterprise applications are systems that span functional areas, focus on executing business processes across the business firm, and include all levels of management.
Key Corporate Assets
Key corporate assets are managed through digital means. In a digital firm, any piece of information required to support key business decisions is available at any time and anywhere in the firm.
Portal
A portal uses a web interface to present integrated, personalized business content.
Blogs and Wikis
Blogs and wikis enable users to publish and rapidly access knowledge, and to discuss opinions and experiences.
The Economists
Economists study information systems with an interest in understanding the production of digital goods, the dynamics of digital markets, and how new information systems change the control and cost structures within the firm.
Business Processes
Business processes refer to the set of logically related tasks and behaviors that organizations develop over time to produce specific business results and the unique manner in which these activities are organized and coordinated.
Collaboration
Collaboration is working with others to achieve shared and explicit goals.
Financial Performance
As a result of effective collaboration, firms often achieve superior sales, sales growth, and overall financial performance.
Information
Information is data that has been shaped into a form that is meaningful and useful to human beings.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems provide information to coordinate all business processes that deal with customers in sales, marketing, and service, aiming to optimize revenue, customer satisfaction, and customer retention.
Organizational and Management Capital
Organizational and management capital refers to the superior returns firms receive when they support their technology investments with complementary assets, such as new business models, new business processes, management behavior, organizational culture, or training.
Systems Analysts
Systems analysts constitute the principal liaisons between the information systems groups and the rest of the organization.
Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)
The Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) is responsible for the firm’s knowledge management program. The CKO helps design programs and systems to find new sources of knowledge or to make better use of existing knowledge in organizational and management processes.
Management Science
Management science emphasizes the development of models for decision-making and management practices.
Intranets
Intranets provide the connectivity to link different systems and networks within the firm.
SharePoint Software
SharePoint software makes it possible for employees to share their documents and collaborate on projects using Office documents as the foundation.
Telepresence Technology
Telepresence technology is an integrated audio and visual environment that allows a person to give the appearance of being present at a location other than his or her true physical location.
Input
Input captures or collects raw data from within the organization or from its external environment.
Major Business Functions
The major business functions are tasks performed by business organizations, consisting of sales and marketing, manufacturing and production, finance and accounting, and human resources.
Groups and Team Workspaces
Groups and team workspaces allow for establishing groups to share information, collaborate on documents, and work on projects, with the ability to set up private and public groups and to archive conversations to preserve team knowledge.
Feedback
Feedback is output that is returned to appropriate members of the organization to help them evaluate or correct the input stage.
Senior Management
Senior management makes long-range strategic decisions about products and services, and ensures the financial performance of the firm.
Social Marketing
Social marketing involves using social media to interact with customers and derive customer insights.
Quality
In a collaborative environment, people can communicate errors and corrective actions faster than if they work in isolation. Collaborative and social technologies help reduce time delays in design and production, thereby improving quality.
Cloud Collaboration Services
Cloud collaboration services, such as Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Apps, Google Sites, and Google+, offer many online tools and services suitable for collaboration, often free of charge.
Processing
Processing converts raw input into a meaningful form.
Data Workers
Data workers, such as secretaries or clerks, assist with scheduling and communications at all levels of the firm.
Key Organizational Complementary Investments
Key organizational complementary investments include a supportive business culture that values efficiency and effectiveness, an appropriate business model, efficient business processes, decentralization of authority, highly distributed decision rights, and a strong information system (IS) development team.
Electronic Business (E-business)
Electronic business, or e-business, refers to the use of digital technology and the internet to execute the major business processes in the enterprise.
Changing Nature of Work
The changing nature of work has shifted from independent stages in factory manufacturing and pre-computer office work, coordinated by supervisors, to jobs requiring much closer coordination and interaction among parties involved in producing services or products.
Information Technology (IT)
Information Technology (IT) consists of all the hardware and software that a firm needs to use in order to achieve its business objectives.
Tagging and Social Bookmarking
Tagging and social bookmarking allow users to indicate preferences for specific pieces of content, similar to the Facebook “Like” button. Tagging enables people to add keywords to identify content they like.
Content Sharing
Content sharing involves sharing, storing, and managing content, including documents, presentations, images, and videos.
The Sociologists
Sociologists study information systems with an eye toward how groups and organizations shape the development of systems and also how systems affect individuals, groups, and organizations.
Management’s Job
Management’s job is to make sense out of the many situations faced by organizations, make decisions, and formulate action plans to solve organizational problems.
Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)
The Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) is responsible for ensuring that the company complies with existing data privacy laws.
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is a senior manager who oversees the use of information technology in the firm.
Computer Software
Computer software consists of the detailed, preprogrammed instructions that control and coordinate the computer hardware components in an information system.
Enterprise Systems
Enterprise systems, also known as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, integrate business processes in manufacturing and production, finance and accounting, sales and marketing, and human resources into a single software system.
Computer Literacy
Computer literacy focuses primarily on knowledge of information technology.
Time Shifting
Time shifting refers to business being conducted continuously, 24/7, rather than in narrow “work day” time bands of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Communities
Communities allow users to discuss topics in open forums and share expertise.
Information Systems Department
The Information Systems Department is the formal organizational unit responsible for information technology services.
Operational Management
Operational management is responsible for monitoring the daily activities of the business.
Computer Science
Computer science is concerned with establishing theories of computability, methods of computation, and methods of efficient data storage and access.
Sociotechnical View of Systems
The sociotechnical view of systems posits that optimal organizational performance is achieved by jointly optimizing both the social and technical systems used in production.
Extranets
Extranets are private intranets extended to authorized users outside the organization.
Productivity
Productivity is enhanced when people interact and work together, as they can capture expert knowledge and solve problems more rapidly than if they work in isolation, leading to fewer errors.
Microsoft SharePoint and IBM Notes
Microsoft SharePoint and IBM Notes are browser-based collaboration and document management platforms, combined with powerful search engines, installed on corporate servers.
Space Shifting
Space shifting means that work takes place in a global workshop as well as within national boundaries; work is accomplished physically wherever in the world it is best accomplished.
Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)
A Transaction Processing System (TPS) is a computerized system that performs and records the daily routine transactions necessary to conduct business, such as sales order entry, hotel reservations, payroll, employee record keeping, and shipping.
The Psychologists
Psychologists study information systems with an interest in how human decision-makers perceive and use formal information.
Decision-Support Systems (DSS)
Decision-Support Systems (DSS) focus on problems that are unique and rapidly changing, for which the procedure for arriving at a solution may not be fully predefined in advance.
Digital Dashboard
A digital dashboard displays on a single screen graphs and charts of key performance indicators for managing a company.
Digital Firm
A digital firm is one in which nearly all of the organization’s significant business relationships with customers, suppliers, and employees are digitally enabled and mediated.
Shared Workspaces
Shared workspaces coordinate projects and tasks, and facilitate co-creation of content.
Management Information Systems (MIS)
Management Information Systems (MIS) deal with behavioral issues as well as technical issues surrounding the development, use, and impact of information systems used by managers and employees in the firm.
Programmers
Programmers are highly trained technical specialists who write the software instructions for computers.
Permissions and Privacy
Permissions and privacy refer to the ability to ensure private information stays within the right circles, as determined by the nature of relationships.
Complementary Assets
Complementary assets are those required to derive value from a primary investment.
Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) enable organizations to better manage processes for capturing and applying knowledge and expertise.
Culture
Culture is a set of assumptions, values, and ways of doing things that has been accepted by most of its members.
Chief Security Officer (CSO)
The Chief Security Officer (CSO) is in charge of information systems security for the firm and is responsible for enforcing the firm’s information security policy.
Data
Data refers to streams of raw facts representing events occurring in organizations or the physical environment before they have been organized and arranged into a form that people can understand and use.
File Sharing
File sharing allows users to upload, share, and comment on photos, videos, audio, and text documents.
Executive Support Systems (ESS)
Executive Support Systems (ESS) present graphs and data from many sources through an interface that is easy for senior managers to use.
Computer Hardware
Computer hardware is the physical equipment used for input, processing, and output activities in an information system.
Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems
Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems help suppliers, purchasing firms, distributors, and logistics companies manage their operations.
End Users
End users are representatives of departments outside of the information systems group for whom applications are developed.
Information System
An information system can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision-making and control in an organization.
Output
Output transfers the processed information to the people who will use it or to the activities for which it will be used.
Information Systems Managers
Information Systems Managers are leaders of teams of programmers and analysts, project managers, physical facility managers, telecommunications managers, or database specialists.
Electronic Commerce (E-commerce)
Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is the part of e-business that deals with the buying and selling of goods and services over the internet.
Operations Research
Operations research focuses on mathematical techniques for optimizing selected parameters of organizations, such as transportation, inventory control, and transaction costs.
Important Managerial Complementary Assets
Important managerial complementary assets include strong senior management support for change, incentive systems that monitor and reward individual innovation, an emphasis on teamwork and collaboration, training programs, and a management culture that values flexibility and knowledge.
Chief Data Officer (CDO)
The Chief Data Officer (CDO) is responsible for enterprise-wide governance and utilization of information to maximize the value the organization can realize from its data.
Core Business Processes
Core business processes are accomplished through digital networks spanning the entire organization or linking multiple organizations.
Growth of Professional Work
The growth of professional work refers to jobs in the service sector that require substantial education and the sharing of information and opinions to get work done, necessitating close coordination and collaboration.
Networking and Telecommunications Technology
Networking and telecommunications technology consists of both physical devices and software, linking various pieces of hardware and transferring data from one physical location to another.
Network
A network links two or more computers to share data or resources, such as a printer.
Knowledge Workers
Knowledge workers, such as engineers, scientists, or architects, design products or services and create new knowledge for the firm.
Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing involves harnessing collective knowledge to generate new ideas and solutions.
Innovation
Innovation thrives when people work collaboratively, leading to more innovative ideas for products, services, and administration than if they work in isolation. This leverages the advantages of diversity and the “wisdom of crowds.”
Virtual Meeting Systems
Virtual meeting systems, including videoconferencing and web conferencing technologies, are adopted by many companies to reduce travel expenses and enable people in different locations to meet and collaborate.
Enterprise Social Networking Tools
Enterprise social networking tools create business value by connecting members of an organization through profiles, updates, and notifications, similar to Facebook features but tailored for internal corporate uses.
Information Systems Literacy
Information systems literacy is a broader understanding of information systems, encompassing the management and organizational dimensions of systems as well as their technical dimensions.
Middle Management
Middle management carries out the programs and plans of senior management.
The Term Intranet
The term intranet refers to an internal network, in contrast to the internet, which is a public network linking organizations and other external networks.
Data Management Technology
Data management technology consists of the software governing the organization of data on physical storage media.
Profiles
Profiles allow for setting up member profiles describing individuals, including educational background, interests, work-related associations, and expertise (skills, projects, teams).