Achieving Efficiency and Effectiveness through Systems
This chapter discusses the four components of information systems and the role information technology plays in business. Read it to gain a basic understanding of these two critical topics, then attempt the two case studies and answer the questions that accompany each case.
The four components of an information system
An information system is defined as a socio-technical system comprised of two sub-systems: a technical subsystem and a social sub-system. The technical sub-system encompasses the technology and process components, while the social sub-system encompasses the people and structure components. The critical insight from the Exhibit 2: The socio-technical system examples introduced earlier is that for an information system to perform and achieve its objectives, all four components have to be present and working together. We now define and describe the four components of a modern information system (see Exhibit 2).
Exhibit 2: The socio-technical system