Download IS Theory and Practice (EMBA 704) - Information Systems

IS for Managers (INFO 640)
L1(a): Exploring the nature and scope
of IS and IT in organizations
GP Dhillon, PhD
Associate Professor of IS
School of Business, VCU
What is a system?
• A system is made up of a number of parts combined
in a particular way to do something useful. We think
of the combined parts as a single thing and we give it
a name.
Wheels, axles, pedals, gears, chain, seat and
handlebars are combined to form a single whole
we call a bicycle. A bike is a system when all the
parts are connected correctly because it allows the rider to move
one place to another more easily.
If the same parts were connected in a different way
it would not be a system because it would not be useful.
Organization as a system
• Technical aspects of the organizational system
– preparing reports; auditing (via checklists) activities
etc
• Formal aspects of the organizational system
– taking care of formal responsibilities; controlling;
planning etc
• Informal aspects of the organizational system
– taking care of obligations; responding to questions
by friends etc
Accomplishing work in an
organization
• Via communication
– All managerial work (informal, formal and
technical) is realized by communicating with each
other
• Via information handling
– The process of communication is nothing more
than handling information
An organization therefore really is a
collection of information handling
activities
Classifying information handling
activities
• Technical
– technology used to handle information
• Formal
– a procedure (or rule) via which information is
delivered from point ‘a’ to ‘b’
• Informal
– by talking to someone in the corridor, face to face
communication loaded with obligations
Understanding the nature of
information
unstructured
, uninformed
facts
Data
To conceive of knowledge
Information is
as a collection of
a difference information seems to rob
that makes a
the concept of all of its
difference
life... Knowledge resides
in the user and not in the
collection. It is how the
user reacts to a collection
of information that
matters
Information
Knowledge
What do organizations do to
managing information?
Oracle; Access
Databases
Groupware
Intranets
Data
Our
Aspiration
Some Proprietary
Information
Management
Datamining
Information
Knowledge
Management
Knowledge
Problems with managing information
Oracle; Access
Databases
Groupware
Intranets
Data
Some Proprietary
Information
Management
Datamining
Information
Knowledge
Management
Knowledge
Organizational responses
• The advent of integrated systems
• Business Process Reengineering
• Enterprise Resource Planning
Consequences
• Integrated systems: Focused on best
technology that could fit the need (…without
really assessing the need)
• Business process reengineering: Reduced
number of organizational layers; Started with
a clean sheet.
• Enterprise Resource Planning: Almost same
as integrated systems.
Problem: We forget what it means…
Understanding the nature and scope
of IS
Informal IS
Formal
IS
Technical
IS