Unit 4: Information Systems and Organization Strategy
Strategic MIS is the application of information management in the overall strategy of a business. Many corporations include a Chief Information Officer (CIO) in executive management to implement information systems to be more competitive. What good would it do for Apple to create an iPhone application that can tell where you are and serve you ads based on location if it was unable to process that information? Part of the role of the CIO would be to figure out if it is possible to do this now – and if not now, when it will be.
This unit will examine how information technology and information systems change the way organizations operate. The unit starts with an examination of some of the key technological forces that characterize the information age, which all firms must consider in their strategic planning. Next, you will learn about the special characteristics and challenges faced by business-to-business operations. The unit concludes with an examination how organizations adapt to technological changes.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 12 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- describe how information systems can provide businesses with competitive advantage;
- describe how information technology influences Porter's Five Forces and the Value Chain model;
- identify the different systems needed to support business processes in an organization;
- understand how information technology combined with business processes can bring an organization competitive advantage;
- describe each of the different roles that people play in the design, development, and use of information systems;
- describe the career paths available to those who work with information systems;
- explain the importance of where the information-systems function is placed in an organization; and
- describe the different types of users of information systems.
4.1: Information Systems and Strategy
This chapter centers around the idea of the strategic value that information systems can bring to an organization. Pay special attention to the arguments around the idea of competitive advantage. When you finish reading, reflect upon the arguments presented about the impact that IT has on competitive advantage.
This chapter looks at one way that information system can bring competitive advantage through their effect on business processes. As you read this chapter, relate it to the previous chapter on competitive advantage. How are the two concepts related?
4.1.1: IT and Competitive Advantage
After reviewing the unit materials, respond to the following questions and post your answer on the discussion forum. Feel free to start your own related posts, and respond to other students' posts as well.
- Summarize Carr's argument that IT does not bring competitive advantage.
- Do some independent research and explain the current thinking on the ability of IT to provide competitive advantage.
- What is your position on IT and competitive advantage?
4.1.2: Porter’s Five Forces and Value Chain
Read the following sections on the value chain and Porter's five forces:
- Mastering Strategic Management: "Chapter 4, Section 3: Value Chain"
- Mastering Strategic Management: "Chapter 3, Section 3: Evaluating the Industry"
While reading these sections, think about the impact that information technology can have on these concepts. Then do the following:
- Draw a value chain diagram that highlights the role of information technology.
- List each of Porter's five forces and then explain how information technology might influence each force.
- For each of the previous two items, do some independent research to see if others agree with your analysis. Do a web search on "value chain information technology" and "Porter's five forces technology". For a more academic search, use Google Scholar.
4.1.3: Decision Support Systems
This video is about Vancouver Coastal Health's decision support system. After watching, write a paragraph that describes your understanding of the steps to developing a decision support tool. You have now also seen an application of MIS in the workforce. What part of the VCH decision support team inspired you most?
4.1.4: ERP Systems
In Chapter 8, you learned about one of the criticisms of an ERP system: ERP systems drive all businesses to use the same business processes, thus eliminating competitive advantage.
If you were implementing an ERP system, in which cases would you be more inclined to modify the ERP to match your business processes? What are the drawbacks of doing this? Do some independent research to support your conclusions.
4.2: The People in Information Systems
In this chapter, you will learn about the "people" component of management information systems. As you read, think about the importance that each person plays in the success of an organization, not just the successful implementation of the technology.
4.2.1: Roles
Read this blog entry, which lists the skills needed to work in IT. It goes on to describe some of the different job categories in this sector. Compare what is in this article to what you read in the textbook chapter. Last create a five-slide presentation using the following guidelines:
- In the first slide, answer the question "What are the general skills needed to work in an IT job?".
- In slides two through four, you should select three different job categories and create a slide for each one, which describes the main work of each category.
- Finally, for your last slide, do a search for one category of IT job on IndeedJobs or Dice and post a description of the job. Does the job description listed match with the material you read?
4.2.2: Organization of the IT Function
- This exercise will help you answer the question "where is the IT function located in different organizations?".
4.2.3: User Types
What type of IT user are you? Look again at the five types of technology adopters and then write a one-page summary of where you think you fit in this model.
Unit 4 Assessment
Take this assessment to see how well you understood this unit.
- This assessment does not count towards your grade. It is just for practice!
- You will see the correct answers when you submit your answers. Use this to help you study for the final exam!
- You can take this assessment as many times as you want, whenever you want.