Information Systems in Global Business Today (Definitions)

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Sector

Provides products and services that other industries rely on to get their work done

Digital Firm

Organization where nearly all significant business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, and employees are digitally enabled, and key corporate assets are managed through digital means

Business Process

The unique ways in which organizations coordinate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to produce a product or service

Business Model

An abstraction of what an enterprise is and how the enterprise delivers a product or service, showing how the enterprise creates wealth

Information Technology (IT)

All the hardware and software technologies a firm needs to achieve its business objectives

Information System

Interrelated components working together to collect, process, store, and disseminate information to support decision making, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization in an organization

Information

Data that have been shaped into a foam that is meaningful and useful to human beings

Data

Streams of raw facts representing events occurring in organizations or the physical environment before they have been organized and arranged into a form that people can understand and use

Input

The capture or collection of raw data from within the organization or from its external environment for processing in an information system

Processing

The conversation, manipulation, and analysis or raw input into a form that is more meaningful to humans

Output

The distribution of processed information to the people who will use it or to the activities for which it will be used

Feedback

Output that is returned to the appropriate members of this organization to help them evaluate or correct input

Information Systems Literacy

Broad

Computer Literacy

Knowledge about information technology, focusing on understanding of how computer

Management Information System (MIS)

The study of information systems focusing on their use in business and management

Senior Management

People occupying the topmost hierarchy in an organization who are responsible for making long

Middle Management

People in the middle of the organizational hierarchy who are responsible for carrying out the plans and goals of senior management

Operational Management

People who monitor the day

Knowledge Workers

People such as engineers or architects who design products or services and create knowledge for the organization

Data Workers

People such as secretaries or bookkeepers who process the organization’s paperwork

Production or Service Workers

People who actually produce the products or services of the organization

Business Functions

Specialized Tasks performed in a business organization, including manufacturing and production, sales and marketing, finance and accounting, and human resources

Culture

The set of fundamental assumptions about what products the organization should produce, how and where it should produce them, and for whom they should be produced

Computer Hardware

Physical equipment used for input, processing, and output activities in an information system

Computer Software

Detailed, preprogrammed instructions that control and coordinate the work of computer hardware components in an information system

Data Management Technology

Software governing the organization of data on physical storage media

Networking and Telecommunications Technology

Physical devices and software that link various computer hardware components and transfer data from one physical location to another

Network

The linking of two or more computers to share data or resources, such as a printer

Internet

Global network of networks using universal standards to connect millions of different networks

Intranets

An internal network based on Internet and World Wide Web technology and standards

Extranets

Private intranet that is accessible to authorized outsiders

World Wide Web

A system with universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information in a networked environment

Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure

All the hardware and software technologies a firm needs to achieve its business objectives

Complementary Assets

Additional assets required to derive value from a primary investment

Organizational and Management Capital

Investments in organization and management such as new business process, management behaviour, organizational culture, or training

Sociotechnical View

Seeing systems as composed of both technical and social elements