Information Systems Today: Managing in the Digital World, Global Edition
Summary containing all the relevant theory discussed in the course book of the course Business Information Systems given in the second year of International Business Administration at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. By learning this summary I personally passed the final exam.
Knowledge workers: are typically professionals who are relatively well educated and who
create, modify, and/or synthesize knowledge as a fundamental part of their jobs.
Knowledge society: growth in number of knowledges works who rise in importance and
leadership. Also called knowledge economy, the new economy, the digital society, the
network era, and digital world.
E-business: an organization that uses information technologies or systems to support nearly
every part of its business.
Digital divide: where those with access to information systems have great advantages over
those without access to information systems. The digital divide is one of the major ethical
challenges facing society today when you consider the strong linkage between computer
literacy and a person’s ability to compete in the digital world.
Globalization: the integration of economies throughout the world, enabled by innovation and
technological progress.
Outsourcing: the moving of business processes or tasks to another company or another
country—as now companies can outsource business processes on a global scale. Reasons
are:
To reduce or control costs
To free up internal resources
To gain access to world-class capabilities
To increase the revenue potential of the organization
To reduce time to market
To increase process efficiencies
To be able to focus on core activities
To compensate for a lack of specific capabilities or skills
Demographic changes: changes in the structure of populations such as related to age, birth
rates, and migration.
Urbanization: the movement of rural populations to urban areas, to a point where 50% of the
world’s population is now living in cities.
Shifts in economic power: changes in countries’ purchasing power and control over natural
resources.
Climate change: large-scale and long-term regional and global changes in temperatures
and weather patterns.
Sustainable development: development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Digital density: every unit of activity generates ever more connected data, enabling new
value-added interactions and business models.
Micro-moments: when a person almost instinctively picks up a mobile device to accomplish
a particular goal.
,Consumerization of IT: many technological innovations are first introduced in the consumer
marketplace before being used by organizations, and businesses have to constantly evaluate
how a wide variety of new technologies might influence their ways of doing business.
Internet of Things: a network of a broad range of physical objects that can automatically
share data over the Internet.
Five IT megatrends
1) Mobile: the move toward mobile devices.
a. Apps: software programs designed to perform a particular, well-defined function.
b. BYOD: “Bring Your Own Devices”: the practice of allowing the employees of an
organization to use their own computers, smartphones, or other devices for work
purposes.
2) Social Media: the rise of social media is largely based on the network effect (the notion
that the value of a network increases with the number of values of a network.
1. Network effect: referring to the notion that the value of a network increases with the
number of users.
3) Internet of Things: a network of a broad range of physical objects that can automatically
share data over the Internet.
a) Sensors: devices that can detect, record and report changes in the physical
environment.
b) Smart home technologies: technologies enabling the remote monitoring and
controlling of lighting, heating, or home appliances.
c) IIoT: “Industrial Internet of Things”: the use of IoT technologies in manufacturing.
4) Cloud Computing: web technologies enable using the Internet as the platform for
applications and data.
5) Big Data: Big Data are typically described as extremely large and complex datasets,
which are characterized as being of high volume, variety and velocity.
Wearable technologies: refers to clothing or accessories that incorporate electronic
technologies.
“Quantified self”: the logging of all aspects of one’s daily life, ranging from monitoring and
recording of activities, performance, or intakes to monitoring bodily states (such as moods or
physiological data) to improve one’s overall health and performance.
Big Data: extremely large and complex datasets, which are characterized as being of high
volume, variety, and velocity.
Artificial intelligence: using information technologies to simulate human intelligence.
Robotics: the use of robots to perform manual tasks.
Network effect: referring to the notion that the value of a network (or tool or application
based on a network) increases with the number of other users.
One of the key drivers of continuous innovations and new business models has been the rise
of APIs.
APIs (Application Programming Interfaces): intermediaries that provide ways for different
components of software to interact and exchange data or functionality using common web
communication protocols.
,The business value of APIs is twofold: Organizations providing the APIs can create new
revenue streams and increase the accessibility of its services, whereas users of the APIs can
utilize the functionality to offer value-added services.
Computer literacy: knowing how to use a computer.
Computer fluency: the ability to independently learn new technologies as they emerge and
assess their impact on one’s work and life.
Healthcare IS: information systems that support various healthcare processes, ranging from
patient diagnosis and treatment to analyzing patient and disease data to running doctors’
offices and hospitals.
Information System (IS): is the combination of people
and information technology that create, collect, process,
store, and distribute useful data.
Information Technology (IT): includes hardware,
software, and telecommunications networks. Software
refers to a program or set of programs that tell the
computer to perform certain tasks. Telecommunications
networks refer to a group of two or more computer
systems linked together with communications
equipment.
People in organizations use information systems to
process sale transactions, manage loan applications, or
help financial analysts decide where, when and how to
invest. Product managers also use them to help decide
where, when and how to make their products and
related services, and production managers use them to
help decide when and how to manufacture products.
Data: raw symbols, such as characters and numbers.
Information: formatted data, can be defined as a presentation of reality, and can help to
answer questions about who, what, where, and when.
In order to actually use information, knowledge is needed. Knowledge: the ability to
understand information, form opinions, and make decisions or predictions based on the
information. Knowledge forms relationships.
Understanding the distinctions between data, information and knowledge is important
because all are used in the study, development, and use of information systems.
The technical competency area includes knowledge and skills in hardware, software,
networking, and security. The technical area of competency is, perhaps, the most difficult to
maintain because of the rapid pace of technological innovation in the digital world.
The business competency area is one that sets the IS professional apart from others who
have only technical knowledge and skills, and in an era of increased outsourcing, it may well
save a person’s job.
Good IS personnel possess valuable, integrated knowledge and skills in three areas—
technical, business, and systems.
, Transaction processing systems (TPS): process day-to-day business event data at the
operational level of the organization.
Management information system: produce detailed information to help manage a firm or
part of a firm.
Internetworking: connecting host computers and their networks together to form even larger
networks like the Internet.
Systems integration: connecting separate information systems and data to improve
business processes and decision making.
Office automation system: support a wide range of predefined day-to-day work activities of
individuals and small groups.
Computer ethics: is used to describe moral issues and standards of conduct as they pertain
to the use of information systems.
PAPA: Privacy, Accuracy, Property and Accessibility
Information privacy: is concerned with what information and individual should have to
reveal to others in the workplace or through other transactions, such as shopping.
Fair Information Practice Principles:
o Notice / Awareness
o Choice / Consent
o Access / Participation
o Integrity / Security
o Enforcement / Redress
Safe shopping:
Choose websites that are monitored by
independent organizations
Avoid having “Cookies” left on your
machine
Visit sites anonymously
Use caution when requesting confirmation E-mail
Beware what you post or say online
Intellectual property (IP): creations of the mind that have commercial value.
1.Describe the characteristics of the digital world, contemporary societal issues of the
digital world, and IT megatrends shaping the digital future.
Today we live in a knowledge society, and information systems have become pervasive
throughout our organizational and personal lives. At the same time, we have seen economic,
cultural, and technological changes brought about by globalization, and societies face a
number of challenges, including demographic changes, rapid urbanization, shifts in global
economic power, resource scarcity, and climate change. Technological advances have
enabled five IT megatrends, where mobility, social media, the Internet of Things, cloud
computing, and Big Data shape the way we work and interact. Being successful in many
careers today requires that people be computer literate because the ability to access and
effectively operate computing technology is a key part of many careers.
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