1. Information Systems in Organizations
Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Information Systems in Organizations
This chapter looks at how information systems are used in organizations, as well as how they shaped, and are shaped, by the organization.
Principles of Information Systems, Sixth Edition

2. Organizations & Information Systems

3. Value Chain

4. Traditional Organizational Structure

5. Traditional Organizational Structure

6. Project Organizational Structure

7. Multidimensional Organizational Structure

8. Multidimensional Organizational Structure
May incorporate several structures at the same time
Advantage:
ability to simultaneously stress both traditional corporate areas and important product lines
Disadvantage:
multiple lines of authority

9. Organizational Change

10. Reengineering

11. Reengineering

12. Continuous Improvement
Constantly seeking ways to improve business processes
Benefits:
Increased customer loyalty
Reduction in customer dissatisfaction
Reduced opportunity for competitive inroads

13. Continuous Improvement vs. Reengineering

14. Technology Diffusion, Infusion, and Acceptance
Technology diffusion - measure of widespread use of technology
Technology infusion - extent to which technology permeates a department
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) - specifies factors that can lead to higher usage of technology

15. Competitive Advantage
Significant, long-term benefit to a company over its competition
Ability to establish and maintain a competitive advantage is vital to the company’s success

16. Competitive Advantage
Five forces motivate firms to seek competitive advantage
Rivalry among existing competition
Threat of new entrants
Threat of substitutions
Buyers’ bargaining power
Suppliers’ bargaining power
A competitive advantage is a significant and sustainable benefit to a firm over its competition. Establishing and keeping a competitive advantage is necessary to a business’s survival.
A management theorist, Michael Porter, identified 5 market forces that motivate firms to seek competitive advantage.
First, the greater the rivalry among existing competitors, the greater the pressure on a firm to gain competitive advantage. The more competitive the industry, the more firms are fighting to gain a competitive advantage.
The greater the threat of new entrants into an industry, the greater the pressure to gain and keep a competitive advantage. The threat of new entrants largely depends on the costs (or other barriers) to entering the industry, as well as exit costs. The lower the costs associated with entering an industry, the more new entrants will be attracted to it. For example, it requires relatively little investment to put a small business on the Internet, thus little is lost if the business fails. We see many Internet businesses come & go.
The easier it is for your customers to use a substitute product or service instead of yours, the greater the pressure on your company to gain competitive advantage. This usually happens with fairly homogeneous products or services. For example, it doesn’t matter to most consumers which brand of gas they use in their cars. For many people, tea is an easy caffeine substitute when the price of coffee gets too high. Competitors in these industries would feel pressure to gain a competitive advantage, perhaps by lowering their costs so they can offer a lower price.
If there are many suppliers of a certain product, say widgets, then a large buyer of widgets would have a lot of bargaining power with its suppliers. If the buyer didn’t like a particular suppliers terms, it would take its business elsewhere. On the other hand, if there are few suppliers of a product, then the suppliers have more power to control price and other terms, since buyers cannot easily find another supplier. The lower a particular firm’s power is with regard to its customers or suppliers, the more pressure that firm feels to seek and hold competitive advantage in other areas.

17. Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage
Change the structure of the industry
Create new products or services
Improve existing products or services
Use information systems for strategic planning
In order for a business to be competitive, its information systems strategy must be aligned with its business strategy and objectives.
Porter described 3 strategies that businesses can use to gain competitive advantage in the face of the 5 forces: changing the industry structure, creating new products or services, and improving existing products or services. Recently, product differentiation and using information technology for strategic purposes have been added to these core strategies.
When a firm alters the industry structure, the industry becomes more favorable to them. Developing an expensive new process or technology that improves your product or service raises the cost of entry to your industry. For example, ATMs changed the structure of the banking industry in the 1970s by increasing the investment in technology required. Entering into strategic partnerships with other firms also makes it more difficult for others to compete.
Finding a market niche means obtaining real or perceived differentiation of your product or service.
Using information technology for strategic purposes involves gaining competitive advantage through the use of technology. For example the use of information systems or technology to mass customize a product such as athletic shoes, jeans, or suits would involve using information technology to compete.

18. Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

19. Performance-Based Information Systems

20. Productivity A measure of output achieved divided by input required
Higher level of output for a given level of input means greater productivity

21. Return on Investments and the Value of Information Systems
Earnings growth
Market share
Customer awareness and satisfaction
Total cost of ownership

22. Justifying Information Systems
Ensure that the system supports business needs
Assess risks
Identify benefits
When planning a new information system it is necessary to consider how well the proposed project meets a business need.
Additionally the risks accompanying the information systems project should be identified, as should the benefits. When considering the cost of an information system many companies now consider TCO, or the total cost of ownership,rather than just acquisition cost. The total cost of ownership includes not only the cost to acquire the technology but also accompanying administrative and support costs, training costs, and replacement costs.

23. Justifying Information Systems
Assessment of Risk:
How well are the requirements understood?
To what degree does the project require pioneering effort in technology?
Is there a risk of severe business repercussions if the project is poorly implemented?

24. Justifying Information Systems
Most IS projects fall into one of the following categories:
Tangible Savings
Intangible Savings
Legal Requirement
Modernization
Pilot Project
These risks must be balanced with benefits accruing from the information. These include quantifiable, or tangible benefits, such as decreased production costs, as well as intangible benefits, such as improved employee morale.
A cost benefit analysis, however, is not always applicable. For example, a particular information system may be required by state or federal law, a business may implement a new system just to gain experience in a new technology, or implementing a new system or technology may be a competitive necessity.

25. The 10 Best Places to Work for IS

26. Careers in Information Systems Department
Operations - focuses on the efficiency of information
Systems development - focuses on specific development projects and ongoing maintenance and review
Support - provides user assistance

27. Three Primary Responsibilities of Information Systems

28. Typical IS Titles and Functions
Chief Information Officer (CIO) - employs the IS department’s equipment and personnel to help the organization attain its goals
LAN administrators - set up and manage the network hardware, software, and security processes
There are numerous job titles and job descriptions in information systems. Many businesses employ a chief information officer, a CIO, to oversee that information systems and technology needs of the entire business. The chief information officer is responsible for the corporate planning, management, and deployment of information systems. Typically the CIO is a senior manager at the vice presidential level who works in conjunction with other senior management to ensure that information systems support business goals and needs.
With the growth of computer networks, administrators of both wide area and local area networks are becoming increasingly important. Network administrators manage network infrastructure, security, and use, as well as identifying and correcting problems.
Similarly, with the growth of the Internet and e-commerce, the need for Internet personnel is growing. A new position of chief Internet officer has been suggested for companies with critical Internet operations.
Major consulting firms such as EDS and Andersen also require skilled information systems personnel with excellent communication and project management skills in addition to technical skills.
Often information systems personnel get some type of certification. Certification is achieved by passing specified skill & knowledge tests. Some of the more popular certifications include Novell’s certified network engineer, Microsoft certified systems engineer, and Cisco’s certified internetwork expert.

29. Typical IS Titles and Functions
Internet careers
Strategists
Programmers
Website operators
Chief Internet Officer
Consulting firms

30. Summary
Value-added processes increase the relative worth of combined inputs on their way to becoming final outputs
Business process reengineering involves the radical redesign of business processes, organizational structures, and information systems
Information systems personnel typically work in an information systems department that employs a chief information officer, systems analysts, and computer programmers