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Using MIS 2e Chapter 1 MIS and You David Kroenke © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-1 Study Questions Q1 – What is MIS? Q2 – What should you learn from this class? Q3 – How can you use the five-component framework? Q4 – What is information? Q5 – What are the characteristics of good information? Q6 – What is the difference between information technology and information systems? Q7 – How can you enjoy this class? © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-2 Q1 – What is MIS MIS—management information systems—is the development and use of information systems that help businesses achieve their goals and objectives Three key elements: Components of information systems Development and use of information systems Achieving business goals and objectives © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-3 Q1 – What is MIS Information Systems components Figure 1-1 Five Components of an Information System Hardware – desktops, laptops, PDAs Software – operating systems, application programs Data – facts and figures entered into computers Procedures – how the other four components are used People – users, technologists, IS support © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-4 Q1 – What is MIS Development and Use of Information Systems You should take an active role in specifying requirements and helping manage development projects since you are the one who’ll be using the system to do your job. Your responsibilities also include using information systems responsibly and protecting the system and its data. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-5 Q1 – What is MIS Morals Ethics Traditions of right and wrong—not the same in all societies but a strong underlying commonality exists Suite of guiding beliefs, standards, or ideals that pervades an individual, group, or community—implies accountability and responsibility Laws Formal rules of conduct that a sovereign authority imposes on its citizens © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-6 Q1 – What is MIS Achieving Business Goals and Objectives Businesses themselves do not “do” anything. Information systems exist to help people in business achieve the goals and objectives of that business. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-7 Q2 – What should you learn from this class? You should: Have sufficient knowledge to be an informed and effective consumer of information technology products and services Be able to ask pertinent questions Be able to correctly interpret the responses to your questions Be able to make wise decisions and manage effectively © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-8 Q2 – What Should You Learn from This Class? Figure 1-2 Summary of MIS Course Content © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-9 Q3 – How Can You Use the Five-Component Framework? Five components interact with each other to create a complete system Actors – hardware and people take actions Instructions – software and procedures provide instructions for actors Bridges – data bridges hardware/software and people/procedures The Most Important Component – YOU You are part of every information system that you use Your quality of thinking is a large part of the quality of an information system © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-10 Q3 – How Can You Use the Five-Component Framework? Figure 1-3 Characteristics of the Five Components © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-11 Q3 – How Can You Use the Five-Component Framework? High-Tech Versus Low Tech – how do you tell the difference? Low tech – using an email program and its addresses is low tech because just a small amount of work is being accomplished by a computer system. High tech – implementing a customer support system is high tech because a large amount of work is being accomplished by the computer system rather than humans. The determining factor is the amount of work that is moved from the human side to the computer side in Fig 1-3. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-12 Q3 – How Can You Use the Five-Component Framework? You can understand and evaluate new information systems by evaluating and asking questions about each component separately and then as a whole system. The five components can also be evaluated based on the order of difficulty and disruption – hardware is the easiest part while people are the most difficult. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-13 Q4 – What is Information? We know what an information system is – an assembly of hardware, software, data, procedures, and people that interact to produce information. But what is information? Definitions vary. Information is: Knowledge derived from data. Data presented in a meaningful context. Data processed by summing, ordering, averaging, grouping, comparing, or other similar operations. A difference that makes a difference. All of these definitions will do, choose the definition that works best for the situation – remember the important point is to discriminate between data and information. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-14 Q4 – What is Information? Information is Subjective Information in one person’s context is just a data point in another person’s context since what may be important to you may not hold the same level of importance to someone else. Context changes occur in information systems when the output of one system feeds a second system. Data in a manufacturing system may be very important to that system. When it’s combined with data from other systems, it may lose its prominence in the larger context. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-15 Q4 – What is Information? Figure 1-4 One User’s Information is Another User’s Data © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-16 Q5 – What are the Characteristics of Good Information? Good information must be Accurate – entering incorrect sales data creates false information. Timely – knowing that production doesn’t have enough raw materials for next week’s schedule won’t be useful information three weeks from now. Relevant – if your boss needs to know how many shipments were late last month, you shouldn’t give him a list of all items that shipped. Just barely sufficient – if your boss wants to know how to send an email, you shouldn’t teach her how to build a computer. Worth its cost – is it cost worthy to map out the entire U.S. if you only need one state? © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-17 Q6 – What is the Difference Between Information Technology and Information Systems? Because many people confuse the two terms, compare what each one consists of and how the two differ. Information technology pertains to Products Methods Inventions Standards Information Systems include five components Hardware Software Data Procedures People Information technology drives the development of new information systems. © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-18 Q6 – What is the Difference Between Information Technology and Information Systems? Moore’s Law “The number of transistors per square inch on an integrated chip doubles every 18 months.” Dramatic Reduction in Price/Performance Ratio Ratio fallen dramatically for over 40 years and is estimated to continue to fall in accordance with Moore’s Law. Enabled developments such as: Laser printers, Graphical user interfaces, High-speed communications, Cell phones, PDAs, Email, Internet © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-19 Q6 – What is the Difference Between Information Technology and Information Systems? Figure 1-6 Computer Price/Performance Ratio Decreases © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-20 Q7 – How Can You Enjoy This Class? Apply what you are learning to situations and organizations of interest to you. Think about the information systems around you and how they interact with each other. How do they affect your life and your job. Every day you touch dozens of information systems. Begin to ask yourself about the type of information those systems provide you. Does the information make a difference? How do they impact you in your personal life and your job? © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 1-21 The General Systems Model of the firm Environment Information and data Standards Decisions Information Management Information Processor Data Physical Resources Physical Resources Inputs © Pearson Prentice Hall 2009 Transformation Process Output Resources 1-22