organization in some ways. Extranet provides information about suppliers, customers and competitors which facilitates the process of planning and decision making. Organizations used to decide and perform as per the information collected through these two different networks. And now, past 10 years internet has been one of the most important sources of information for the organization to operate in this global environment. Internet has made it possible to know about everything going around the globe, sitting in the couch. Internet has made the business easier. Websites, blogs, email and many more, collecting information was never so easy before. Today to know about Microsoft Inc. you shouldn’t visit America. Besides, because of use of internet we are able to know about what are the recent business trends, what are our competitors doing ,where’s our business heading and lot more so that we can manage and plan our activities as per all these things. Organizations are using internet in their every aspect, from production to promotion.
3) Refer to the real world case on sew what? In the chapter. In the company’s early years, Megan Duckett lost a major contract because a prospective client said that without a web site, her business “lacked credibility.”Does this hold true today for all business? Why or why not?
Business is not just about buying and selling of a product. Moreover it’s about trust. Costumer should be able to trust you if you are to sell your product. Costumer trusts you as per the information you provide about yourself and the way you show responsibility towards them. If your company has a website, it shows that you are up-to-date with changing time and you are responsible towards your costumer so that you are considering the convenience of your costumer .This sense of responsibility can be the basis of trust among you and your costumer resulting the business relation among the parties.
Today people have many choices. They have many options to go for. The only reason they will choose you from the many is the trust they have in you. The more they know about you, more it becomes easy for them to trust you. So, definitely in today’s complex business environment it matters a lot to have credibility in order to be successful. If people don’t know about you they won’t be able to trust you. Also Internet is very convenient that a costumer can use it from anywhere to get the detail information. So in order to explain yourself and be familiar to people along with moving with people’s perception and changing technological advances, it is important to have website today in all business.
4) Why do big companies still fail in their use of information technology? What should they be doing differently?
When things are big it’s hard to organize them together and adjust all of it in one single system. Same goes with big organizations. Every department is distinct and they have their own distinct way of communicating, keeping records and managing their data’s. Information technology is only effective if it’s managed to use in a systematic way. Input should be accurate, uniform and in order to get the accurate output. And in big organizations it’s almost impossible to make everything uniform. Also in country like ours, where almost 60% of people are unaware about information technology and IT is very recently brought into practice, big organizations have been following the certain pattern of doing things manually, and it’s hard to change the habit so old. Along with all these, Cost factor at the beginning as well restricts the organizations to implement IT in their business. Neglecting the information management system as well could be the reason of organizations failure to make the best use of IT. The things these big organizations needs to consider making the best of Information technology are as follows:
*Big organizations should start with being more responsible and sensitive towards data management issues.
*They should divide whole the organization into considerable units of similar departments, which performs the functions in similar pattern so that it becomes easy to implement information technology in work.
*Cost factor should be considered since it will be profitable in long run.
*They should be serious towards moving with time and living the people’s expectations by increasing the quality of their product and services, from the efficient utilization of information technology.
5) How can a manager demonstrate that he or she is a responsible end user of information system? Give several examples.
Information’s are the basis of planning, organizing, controlling and decision making to managers. The main motive of information system is to facilitate management with effective decision making. Information system is the storehouse of all the information’s arranged in systematic way which can be retrieved easily at the time of need. Information system’s responsibility is to provide accurate information whereas manager using that information is responsible to make the best out of that information and decide in favor of the information provided. Keeping the information for future reference and maintaining its secrecy as per the need as well is the responsibility of manager using it as end user. If I am the manager, I would be using information system to know about everything I need to know, in order to perform my obligations. My responsibility towards that information system I am using it would be,
*To maintain the system and watch out if everything is in order, so as to get accurate information.
*To be responsible towards the information provided and use it in the best possible way to formulate effective plans and policies.
*To maintain the secrecy of the information provided.
*To keep it properly for the future reference and evidence.
*To convey the information in logical way to whom it may concern.
6) Refer to the real world case on Jet blue and the VA in the chapter. How could a process be designed such that these domino effects can be avoided or to some extent controlled? Define your proposal.
Technologies are boon to organizations if they are used and controlled properly but if they are not looked after properly it can be the matter of failure and loss to an organization. As in case of JetBlue and Veterans Administration, whole the system was about to get down making the organization amputated. But we can’t make the assumption of each and everything that may happen to the system and get prepared for that. Accidents are inevitable; technologies we are using may stop functioning any time. In such cases, there is nothing much we can do if we don’t have a proper back up plan to handle such crisis.
The kind of situation faced by JetBlue and VA cannot totally be prevented but by following a system of monitoring and control may be we could be more prepared and confident to face such kind of situations. Technologies are machines and the software we use in them are their brain, so in order to keep them fit and fine we need to take very good care of them. Regular updates and checking the functionality of machines is very important in order to avoid such accidents. Monitoring the whole system and making a change whenever it requires it is one of the most important steps in order to avoid such domino steps. Regular backup practice in an identical and distinct system could be other options that whatever happens in the interconnection data’s and information will be safe and can be used later on. Bigger the interconnection, Harder it is to control it, so may be maintaining a specific interconnection system, up to which it becomes easy to control is much better.
7) What are some of the toughest management challenges in developing IT solutions to solve business problems and meet new business opportunities?
Information technology is not something that we once implement and keep on using it rest of our life. It’s a very dynamic field which keeps on changing. In today’s era of technological advances where everyday new innovations come to our knowledge it’s a challenge to move with it. *Management has a challenge to find out the best technology in order to solve business problems. *There are several technologies available so it’s very important to find out the most appropriate technology for the organization as per the nature of work of the organization.
*Everything comes with price and information technologies are one of the expensive things to decide for. With the best product Management should also consider the best price to pay for it as per the financial position of organization.
*Owning a best information technology is not enough. It’s very much important to decide where to use it, how to use it, for what to use it and who to use it.
*Information technologies are a bit complicated to start and hard to understand the functions first, so management should make the proper arrangement of human resources to use it.
*Update is required in order to make it reliable so management should consider about updating it as per the changing time.
8) Why are there so many conceptual classifications of information systems? Why they are typically integrated in the information systems found in real world?
There is no any sure and certain way of information system which is perfect to each and every kind of organizations. Different nature of organizations has different ways of doing things and keeping the datas.As per the functions performed in organization information’s are kept in different formats and order. So there are different conceptual classifications of information systems which vary as per the size, functions and structure of organization. These conceptual information systems help the management of the organization to decide about which system to follow in their organization, considering their functions, size and structure.
These concepts of information systems are scientific and systematic as well as effective to use, in order to manage the information’s available in the organization for the future prospect. In real world organizations need to analyze and store data’s and information in order to use them at the time of need so they typically integrate these concepts of information system in their business so as to have reliable and smooth information management system which is more favorable to their kind of organization.
9) In what major ways have information systems in business changed during the last 40 years? What is one major change you think will happen in the next 10 years?
It’s not been so long that information system has been so advanced. Before 40 years organizations were having the traditional way of managing information’s in written formats, manually. Development of computers made a very remarkable impact in managing information system. Mainframe computers were just in existence but they were very expensive that every organization couldn’t afford it. Only big banks and corporate houses used to use computers in very limited number. After that mini computers and microcomputers changed the definition of information system and slowly computers became information systems. During 80s and 90s lowering cost of personal computers and their compatible size changed the whole scenario and computers became the most important aspects of organizations in order to manage the information system along with overall performance of an organization. During 90s internet came into existence, which included the whole world in a small box. After that there’s been no looking back. Every year new technologies are discovered, facilitating the information system to be more reliable, accurate and efficient.
I think in next 10 years computers would have artificial intelligence as well which will allow them to think by themselves. Scientists are working on it so may be in a very near future we would be able to communicate with computers in more natural ways.
10) Refer to real world example of Hershey Foods in the chapter. Are the failure and success described due to managerial or technological challenges? Explain.
Basically, failure or success of business cannot be attributed to only one aspect of organization. Technological and managerial, both aspects of organization are equally responsible for the position of organization. To be in particular in the real world example of Hershey Foods, I think its technological challenge which is much important than managerial challenge, they faced in order to grow up from an organization to successful organization.
As mentioned in the example, during the initial phase ERP was not as efficient as it is now. Lots of organizations were having problem with it because they didn’t know how to use it. At beginning Hershey food as well had problem using technology in its business as a result they were not doing well. Their failure could be the result of their weak technological strategy. But later on, Hershey foods found out the effectiveness of EPS modified it the way they needed and used it efficiently by upgrading it which helped them to increase their productivity. They deployed EPS in such an effective way that it reduced their cost, time of processing and increased the quality of their products by 100%. All this became possible because they Enhanced whole their system and made it more powerful by including material management invoice verification along with credit processing for distributors, bringing everything together in an organized schedule which resulted in better functioning and cost savings. It was Information Technology that changed whole the picture and helped them taste the success. So this time as well it was technological opportunity which helped them rise.
thanks for that
ReplyDeletemore help me this facilities
Do you have all the answers to this book?
ReplyDeletethnaks a lot.
ReplyDeletethank u for the help very helpful
ReplyDeleteJazak Allah .. this is very helpfull
ReplyDelete