Teaching and Learning Activity: Suggested Solutions

Module: IT Systems Management 1 (HISM100-1)

Week number (Date): 1, (14 February 2019)
Unit covered: Unit 1/Chapters 1&2

Instructions:
To enrich your learning experience at Boston even further, and to ensure that you are exposed
to a variety of resources in this module, announcements will be posted every week containing
additional materials or activities for you to work through.

It is important to note that these activities are neither compulsory nor weighted, but that it will
be to your advantage to participate. The purpose of the activities is to help you better
understand the content of your weekly unit/s of study, and it will assist in creating insight and
deeper meaning.

Activity 1 is based on Unit 1/Chapter 1&2 of the prescribed courseware for this module. You
are required to make your own research and attempt to answer the questions below.

Answer the following questions:

Chapter 1
1. Information technology (IT) consists of all the hardware and software that a firm
needs to use in order to achieve its business objectives. This includes not only
computer machines, storage devices, and handheld mobile devices but also
software, such as the Windows or Linux operating systems, the Microsoft Office
desktop productivity suite, and the many thousands of computer programs that
can be found in a typical large firm.

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1.1. Provide a concrete definition of what an information system is.
Answer:
An information system can be defined technically as a set of interrelated
components that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to
support decision making and control in an organisation. In addition to supporting
decision making, coordination, and control, information systems may also help
managers and workers analyze problems, visualize complex subjects, and create
new products.

MIS textbook, Chapter 1, Pg. 44, LO2: What is an information system? How does
it work? What are its management, organisation, and technology components?
Why are complementary assets essential for ensuring that information systems
provide genuine value for organisations?

1.2. Briefly summarize the transformational impact information systems have on

businesses.
Answer:
You can see the results of this large-scale spending around you every day by
observing how people conduct business. Changes in technology and new,
innovative business models have transformed social life and business practices.
Some 2.8 billion people worldwide have smartphones (50 percent of the world’s
population), and an estimated 1.26 billion use their smartphones for Internet
access. More than 1 billion people use tablet computers, about 15 percent of the
global population. In developing and emerging countries, phones and tablets are
the primary means of access to the Internet (Pew Research, 2016; eMarketer,
2015). An estimated 2.34 billion people now use social networks, with Facebook
accounting for 1.7 billion people alone. Messaging services like WhatsApp,
Facebook Messenger, and Twitter collectively have over 2 billion monthly users.
Smartphones, social networking, texting, e-mailing, and webinars have all
become essential tools of business because that’s where your customers,
suppliers, and colleagues can be found (eMarketer, 2016a).

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 MIS textbook, Chapter 1, Pg. 34, LO1: How are information systems transforming
global business, and why are they so essential for running and managing a
business today?

1.3. What are the complementary social, managerial, and organizational assets
required to optimize returns from information technology investments?
Answer:
Organisational assets
 Supportive organisational culture that values efficiency and effectiveness
 Appropriate business model
 Efficient business processes
 Decentralized authority
 Distributed decision-making rights
 Strong IS development team
Managerial Assets
 Strong senior management support for technology investment and change
 Incentives for management innovation
 Teamwork and collaborative work environments
 Training programs to enhance management decision skills
 Management culture that values flexibility and knowledge-based decision
making.
Social assets
 The Internet and telecommunications infrastructure
 IT-enriched educational programs raising labor force computer literacy
 Standards (both government and private sector)
 Laws and regulations creating fair, stable market environments
 Technology and service firms in adjacent markets to assist implementation

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 MIS textbook, Chapter 1, Pg. 56, LO2: What is an information system? How does
it work? What are its management, organisation, and technology components?
Why are complementary assets essential for ensuring that information systems
provide genuine value for organisations?

Chapter 2
2 Explain how information systems improve business processes?
Answer:
Information systems automate many steps in business processes that were
formerly performed manually, such as checking a client’s credit or generating an
invoice and shipping order. But today, information technology can do much more.
New technology can actually change the flow of information, making it possible
for many more people to access and share information, replacing sequential
steps with tasks that can be performed simultaneously, and eliminating delays in
decision making. New information technology frequently changes the way a
business works and supports entirely new business models. Downloading a
Kindle e-book from Amazon, buying a computer online at Best Buy, and down-
loading a music track from iTunes are entirely new business processes based on
new business models that would be inconceivable without today’s information
technology.

MIS textbook, Chapter 2, Pg. 73, LO1: What are business processes? How are
they related to information systems?

3. Define the following terms:

 E-business
Answer:
Electronic business, or e-business, refers to the use of digital technology and the
Internet to execute the major business processes in the enterprise. E-business
includes activities for the internal management of the firm and for coordination

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 with suppliers and other business partners. It also includes electronic commerce,
or e-commerce.

MIS textbook, Chapter 2, Pg. 84, LO2: How do systems serve the different
management groups in a business, and how do systems that link the enterprise
improve organisational performance?

 E-commerce
Answer:
E-commerce is the part of e-business that deals with the buying and selling of
goods and services over the Internet. It also encompasses activities supporting
those market transactions, such as advertising, marketing, customer support,
security, delivery, and payment.

MIS textbook, Chapter 2, Pg. 84, LO2: How do systems serve the different
management groups in a business, and how do systems that link the enterprise
improve organisational performance?

 E- government
Answer:
E-government refers to the application of the Internet and networking
technologies to digitally enable government and public sector agencies’
relationships with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government.

MIS textbook, Chapter 2, Pg. 84, LO2: How do systems serve the different
management groups in a business, and how do systems that link the enterprise
improve organisational performance?

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4. Identify and discuss the benefits of collaboration and social business.
Answer:
Productivity - People interacting and working together can capture expert
knowledge and solve problems more rapidly than the same number of people
working in isolation from one another. There will be fewer errors.
Quality - People working collaboratively can communicate errors and corrective
actions faster than if they work in isolation. Collaborative and social technologies
help reduce time delays in design and production.
Innovation - People working collaboratively can come up with more innovative
ideas for products, services, and administration than the same number working
in isolation from one another. Advantages to diversity and the “wisdom of crowds.”
Customer Service - People working together using collaboration and social tools
can solve customer complaints and issues faster and more effectively than if they
were working in isolation from one another.
Financial performance (profitability, sales, and sales growth) - As a result of
all of the above, collaborative firms have superior sales, sales growth, and
financial performance.

MIS textbook, Chapter 2, Pg. 88, LO3: Why are systems for collaboration and
social business so important, and what technologies do they use?

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