Transcript Organizations & Systems

Organizations & Systems
Sept. 12, 2005
Outline
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What is an Organization?
Interaction of IT with the Organization
Network Effects & Economics
Classifying Business Organization Units
& Information Systems
What is an Organization?
• Technical Definition: "A stable, formal,
social structure that takes resources
from the environment and proceses
them to produce outputs." (Laudon &
Laudon)
• Information Technology is introduced
into this structure to make the
production of outputs more efficient.
What is an Organization?
Structural, Behavioural and Other:
• Hierarchy of authority
• Impersonality
• Written rules of conduct (operating procedures)
• Promotion based on achievement (technical
qualifications for positions; meritocracy)
• Specialized division of labor
• Efficiency (maximal organizational efficiency)
IT innovations can create conflicts between these.
A Pre-IT
Insurance
Claims
Office
(c 1965)
Giuliani, V. E.
“The Mechanization
Of Office Work.”
in
Forester, T., ed.
The Information
Technology
Revolution.
MIT Press; 1985.
A Post-IT
Insurance
Claims
Office
(c 1985)
Giuliani, V. E.
“The Mechanization
Of Office Work.”
in
Forester, T., ed.
The Information
Technology
Revolution.
MIT Press; 1985.
A Post-IT
Insurance
Claims
Office
(c 2004)
• the computers may be in head office, or
they may be operated by a service company
• the call centre is somewhere (and everywhere)
• the adjusters/claims agents may work out of
their homes, as contract employees
Head
Office
Data
Centre
Customers
The
Network
Call
Centre
Agents
Bank
IT & THE ORGANIZATION:
BEFORE & AFTER
IP Pre-IT
IP Post-IT
Information Needs
• structured flows
• limited access
• structured storage
• broad access
Skill Levels
• relatively low
• relatively high
Responsiveness
• relatively slow
• relatively fast
IT & THE ORGANIZATION:
BEFORE & AFTER
IP Pre-IT
IP Post-IT
Tasks
• specialized
• compartmentalized
• repetitive
• generalized
• interconnected
• varied/novel
Work Flow
• batch oriented
• event-driven
Standard of Performance
• follow the rules
• understand the process
IT & THE ORGANIZATION:
BEFORE & AFTER
IP Pre-IT
IP Post-IT
Workforce
• relatively larger
• relatively smaller
Organizational Structure
• strongly hierarchical
• weakly networked
• strongly networked
• weakly hierarchical
3 Economic effects of IT on
the Organization
1.Information technology costs generally fall,
labour costs generally rise. IT can be
substituted for labour, and result in fewer
middle managers and clerical workers.
2.Information technology lowers transaction
costs. Firms should therefore become smaller,
and have more external transactions (e.g.
through outsourcing).
3.Information technology lowers internal
management (supervision and coordination)
costs. Firms can therefore become larger. (?)
Org. Units & IT Systems
Function Sales &
Marketing
Manufacturing &
Production
Finance &
Accounting
Human
Resources
"Epistemological
Level"
Facilitie s location
Profit Planning
Labor force
needs
Strategy
Org. level
Strategic
(Executive Support
System)
Sales trend
forecasting
Management
(Decision Support
System; Management
Information Systems)
Pricing
analysis
Production
Planning
Budgeting
Range &
Distribution of
w ages,
benefits
Know ledge
(Know ledge Work
Systems; Office
Systems)
Market
analysis
Compu ter Aided
Design
Investment
Portfolio
Analysis
Design
Knowledge and
possible career Information
paths
Operations
(Transaction
Processing Systems)
Enter,
Machine control
process, track
Accounts
Receivable
Track
employee
training, skills
& evaluations
"W isdom?"
Knowledge
Data
Examples: Webtrends
• See: learningspaces.org/1311
Enterprise Systems & the Org
“old” integration of ITs
Enterprise Systems & the Org
“new” integration of ITs
The Major Eras Of The Computer Age
1964-1980 The System Centric Era
1964: introduction of the IBM 360
1981-1993 The PC Centric Era
1981: introduction of the IBM PC
1994-2005 The Network Centric Era
2006-2015 The Content Centric Era?
FEATURE
SYSTEMS CENTRIC
Audience
Corporate
Technology
Transistor
Principle
Grosch’s Law
Offerings
Proprietary Systems
Network Focus
Data Center
User Focus
Efficiency
Supplier Structure
Vertical Integration
Supplier Leadership
US systems
# Users at end
10 million
Market Size
$20 billion
FEATURE
SYSTEMS CENTRIC
PC CENTRIC
Audience
Corporate
Professional
Technology
Transistor
Microprocessor
Principle
Grosch’s Law
Moore’s Law
Offerings
Proprietary Systems
Standard Products
Network Focus
Data Center
LAN/WAN
User Focus
Efficiency
Productivity
Supplier Structure
Vertical Integration
Horizontal ‘value chain’
Supplier Leadership
US systems
US Components
# Users at end
10 million
100 million
Market Size
$20 billion
$460 billion
FEATURE
SYSTEMS CENTRIC
PC CENTRIC
Audience
Corporate
Professional
Technology
Transistor
Microprocessor
Principle
Grosch’s Law
Moore’s Law
Offerings
Proprietary Systems
Standard Products
Network Focus
Data Center
LAN/WAN
User Focus
Efficiency
Productivity
Supplier Structure
Vertical Integration
Horizontal ‘value chain’
Supplier Leadership
US systems
US Components
# Users at end
10 million
100 million
Market Size
$20 billion
$460 billion
FEATURE
PC CENTRIC
NETWORK CENTRIC
Audience
Professional
Consumer
Technology
Microprocessor
Bandwidth
Principle
Moore’s Law
Metcalfe’s Law
Offerings
Standard Products
Value Added Services
Network Focus
LAN/WAN
Public Network
User Focus
Productivity
Customer Service
Supplier Structure
Horizontal ‘value chain’
Supplier Leadership US Components
Unified Computer &
Communications Chain
National Carriers
# Users at end
100 million
1 Billion
Market Size
$460 billion
$3 trillion
FEATURE
PC CENTRIC
NETWORK CENTRIC
Audience
Professional
Consumer
Technology
Microprocessor
Bandwidth
Principle
Moore’s Law
Metcalfe’s Law
Offerings
Standard Products
Value Added Services
Network Focus
LAN/WAN
Public Network
User Focus
Productivity
Customer Service
Supplier Structure
Horizontal ‘value chain’
Supplier Leadership US Components
Unified Computer &
Communications Chain
National Carriers
# Users at end
100 million
1 Billion
Market Size
$460 billion
$3 trillion
FEATURE
NETWORK CENTRIC
CONTENT CENTRIC
Audience
Consumer
Individual
Technology
Bandwidth
Software
Principle
Metcalfe’s Law
‘Transformation’ Law
Offerings
Value Added Services
Custom Services
Network Focus
Public Network
Transparent
User Focus
Customer Service
Virtualization
Supplier Structure
Supplier Leadership
Unified Computer &
Embedded
Communications Chain
National Carriers
Content Providers
# Users at end
1 Billion
Universal
Market Size
$3 trillion
Too embedded to measure
FEATURE
NETWORK CENTRIC
CONTENT CENTRIC
Audience
Consumer
Individual
Technology
Bandwidth
Software
Principle
Metcalfe’s Law
‘Transformation’ Law
Offerings
Value Added Services
Custom Services
Network Focus
Public Network
Transparent
User Focus
Customer Service
Virtualization
Supplier Structure
Supplier Leadership
Unified Computer &
Embedded
Communications Chain
National Carriers
Content Providers
# Users at end
1 Billion
Universal
Market Size
$3 trillion
Too embedded to measure