Information Systems, Not Computer Science

Information Systems, Not Computer Science The largest growth in most economies is coming from information industries. The success of such knowledge-based organisations lies in their information systems. Also, forced by technological change and globalisation of markets, many manufacturing industries are also placing increasing emphasis upon information systems. Information systems are more than just computer programs. Though information and communications technologies are playing an increasing role in meeting organisations information needs, an information system is a much more general concept. It refers to the wider systems of people, data and activities, both computer-based and manual, that effectively gather, process, store and disseminate organisations information 2.0 Information Systems not Computer Science Information systems, as a discipline, focuses on exploring the interface between management, information science and computer science. Computer Science focuses on information technology: software. Information Systems mediates the two opposing worlds of human activity systems and information technology 3.0 Information Systems and the Modern Organization 3.1 Outline Competitive Advantage and Strategic Information Systems Evolution of Information Systems Classification of Information Systems The Modern Computing Environment Managing Information Resources 3.2 Learning Objectives Describe Porters competitive forces model. Discuss strategies that companies can use to achieve competitive advantage in their industries. Describe strategic information system (SISs) and how information technology helps companies improve their competitive positions. Describe various information systems and their evolution. Learn major Information System classification schemes. Describe the emerging computing environments. Describe how information resources are managed and the roles of the information systems department and the end users 4.0 Competitive advantage and SIS Competitive Advantage: An advantage over competitors in some measure such as cost, quality, or speed, which leads to control of a market and to larger than average profits. 4.1 Competitive forces model A business framework, devised by Michael Porter, for analyzing competitiveness by looking at five major forces that might alter a firms competitive standing. 4.2 Porters five forces Model 4.3 Strategies for Competitive Advantage Cost Leadership. Produce products and/or services at the lowest cost in the industry. Differentiation. Offer different products, services or product features. Customer orientation. Concentrate on making customers happy so that they remain loyal. New markets. Discover new markets either as a means of expansion and growth, or with the goal of capturing market niches. Innovation. Introduce new products and services, add new features to existing products and services or develop new ways to produce them. Operational Effectiveness. Improve the manner in which internal business processes are executed so that a firm performs similar activities better than its rivals. Discussion: Which of these strategies can be enhanced by the use of IS/IT, and how? 4.4 Strategic Information Systems (SISs) Systems that help an organization gain a competitive advantage through their contribution to the strategic goals of an organization and / or their ability to significantly increase performance and productivity. 4.5 IS Related Organizational Responses Strategic Systems may provide advantages that enable organizations to increase market share and/or profits, to better negotiate with suppliers, or prevent competitors from entering their markets. Customer Focus is the idea of attracting and keeping customers by providing superb customer service. Can be enhanced by use of IS/IT. Made-to-Order. is a strategy of producing customized products and services. Mass Customization is producing a large quantity of items, but customizing them to fit the desire of each customer. E business and Ecommerce. Is the strategy of doing business electronically. Discussion: Which Information Systems would be strategic for: An university An online book store A car manufacturer? 5.0 Evolution of Information Systems The first business application of computers (in the mid1950s) performed repetitive, high volume, transaction computing tasks. The computers crunched numbers summarizing and organizing transactions and data in the accounting, finance, and human resources areas. Such systems are generally called transaction processing systems (TPSs). Management Information Systems (MISs): these systems access, organize, summarize and display information for supporting routine decision making in the functional areas. Office Automation Systems (OASs): such as word processing systems were developed to support office and clerical workers. Decision Support Systems: were developed to provide computer based support for complex, or no routine decision making. End-user computing: The use or development of information systems by the principal users of the systems outputs, such as analysts, managers, and other professionals. Knowledge Management Systems: support creating, gathering, organizing, integrating and disseminating of an organization knowledge. Data Warehousing: A data warehouse is a database designed to support DSS, ESS and other analytical and end-user activities. Intelligent Support System (ISSs): Include expert systems which provide the stored knowledge of experts to non experts, and a new type of intelligent systems with machine learning capabilities that can learn from historical cases. Mobile Computing: Information systems that support employees who are working with customers or business partners outside the physical boundaries of their companies; can be done over wire line or wireless networks. 6.0 Classification of Information Systems The two most common classifications are: Classification by breath of support Classification by organizational level. 6.1 Classification by Breath of Support Typical information systems that follow the hierarchical organization structure are functional (departmental), enterprisewide and interorganizational Functional information systems are organized around the traditional departments. Enterprise information systems serve several departments or the entire enterprise. Inter organizational systems connect two or more organizations. An organizations supply chain describe the flow of materials, information, money, and service from raw material suppliers through factories and warehouses to the end customers. IT provides two major types of software solution for managing supply chain activities: Enterprise Resource Planning ( ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM) 6.2 Departmental, corporate, and inter organizational IS 6.3 IT outside your organization 6.3 Classification by Organization Levels The typical enterprise is organized hierarchically, from the clerical and office worker layer, to the operational layer, the managerial layer, the knowledge worker layer and finally the strategic layer. 6.4 Levels in an Organization 6.5 The Clerical Level Clerical workers constitute a large class of employees who support managers at all levels of the company. Among clerical workers, those who use, manipulate, or disseminate information are referred to as data workers. These employees include bookkeepers, secretaries who work with word processors, electronic file clerks, and insurance claim processors. 6.6 The Operational Level Operational or first line managers deal with the day to day operations of the organization, making routine decisions, which deal in general with activities such as short-term planning, organizing, and control 6.7 The Knowledge Work Level They act as advisors and assistants to both top and middle management and are often subject area experts. Many of these professional workers are classified as knowledge workers, people who create information and knowledge as part of their work and integrate it into the business. 6.8 The Strategic Level Top-level or strategic managers (the executives) make decisions that deal with situations that may significantly change the manner in which business is done. 7.0 The Modern Computing Environment Computing Environment: The way in which an organizations information technologies (hardware, software, and communications technology) are organized and integrated for optimal efficiency and effectiveness. Legacy system: Older systems, typically those that process an organizations high volume transactions that are central to the operations of a business. 8.0 Managing Information Resources Information resources includes hardware, software, data, networks, applications etc. Management includes acquisition, introduction, support. Traditionally, department (ISD IS department) owns, manages and controls all resources End-user computing: employees use computers, write applications, manage data etc. Leads to fragmented management and need for cooperation between ISD and users Who is responsible for which resources? Includes financial responsibilities (contracts between users and ISD IT controlling) Discussion: What are the possible problems associated with: Complete control at ISD, and Complete control for end-users? Which factors in a company would lead to which outcome Chief Information Officer (CIO): sometimes member of top management, nowadays no longer technical, but strategic function IT Governance: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the leadership and organisational structures and processes that ensure that the organisations IT sustains and extends the organisations strategies and objectives. Framework for IT Governance: COBIT Control Objectives for IT and related Technologies Mandated for Turkish banks in 2006 Domains: Plan and Organize, Acquire and Implement, Deliver and Support, Monitor and Evaluate COBIT 9.0 The information system strategies implementation in UK companies 9.1 Strategic process formality Business strategy relationship % companies The ISS is a formal documented part of the business strategy 47.5 There is no formal documentation, but the ISS is related to specific strategic aims 41.8 The ISS is a departmental function, rather than a corporate function 6.4 The ISS is not seen as related to the business strategy 0.0 9.2 Success of strategies 9.4 Conclusion: Collective intelligence and knowledge management can become effective mechanisms to help avoid the disturbances leading to internal disequilibrium within the organisation. Collective intelligence and knowledge management can remediate the negative effects of the instability of environment. The information and knowledge become raw materials for the intelligent organisation; their management requires simple solutions. Life cycle for products and services is getting shorter; the markets are global, fragmented by the needs and exigencies of the clients. The organisational culture evolves according to the aggregate strategy. The role of knowledge manager is to invest in the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge, leaving the employees to capitalise their personal competence

House Waife

†¢ What kind of job are you looking for? â€Å"I’m looking for a position that is going to help make a company better and challenge me based on my experience and background. † †¢ What are you looking for in a job? â€Å"I’ve enjoyed the challenge of learning in just about every job I’ve had† and, again, â€Å"I’m looking for a position that’s going to help make a company better and challenge me. † †¢ What do you look for in a job? â€Å"Well, I’d like the work to be challenging. I enjoy being challenged every day.By being challenged I’m going to grow personally and professionally, and I find if I’m growing personally and professionally, the economics, benefits and many things like that will always take care of themselves† †¢ How do you define success? When I contribute to a successful organization, I am successful. We both grow. † Then perhaps relate a story about how â€Å" successful† you were in your last one or two jobs. Remember, people love stories, and they remember them long after they remember most everything else. You really don’t have as much experience as we would like; why should we hire you? You know, it’s very interesting, and every job I’ve ever had I never went in to the job having all of the experience that my previous employers wanted. In fact, I went into three of them where I was hired simply because I had more potential than any other candidate. As you can see, I have been successful in every position that I’ve been in even though I had no experience before I started.Some people catch on to things more quickly than others and I happen to be one who is blessed that way. I’m a quick learner and I’ve been able to pick up the things that I didn’t necessarily have any experience with and do extremely well. † †¢ Have you ever â€Å"failed† in a job? â€Å"Well, Iâ €™m like a ballplayer that never really lost—he just ran out of time. Even the very few things that I look back on and others might see as ‘failures,’ I really see as setbacks.Like most people, not everything that I’ve ever done has turned out as perfectly as I would have liked. But even when it didn’t, I’ve learned from it. † †¢ If you could choose any organization to work for, whom would you go to? â€Å"Unequivocally, this company is absolutely the one I would go to work for, †¢ Describe a major project that you have worked on and how it contributed to the overall good of your employer successful project Salary Transfer to Banks

Gendering Childhood Essay

Toy stores are places where the gender of different children is being shaped – be it femininity, masculinity or gender-neutrality – according to the current ideas of society and culture about gender. It is therefore evident that toy stores are actually catalysts to the ongoing ideas about a certain kind of gender. In terms of gender-neutral toys, toy stores can be seen as a channel for interaction or equality between the sexes, although this is only seen some of the toys intended for toddlers and teens, and the toys that are digital/computer-based such as educational toys and consoles. In most toy stores, there are clear divisions and may even be separated and placed on opposite ends of the store. There are also sections where it is not clear whether or not the intention is for either gender. The toy stores are also divided depending on the age of those who are going to buy them. Usually, the age is progressive as one goes deeper into the store from the most simple of dolls and balls for one-year olds to the complex digital, computerized toys that can span from the age of seven and up. Looking at the store itself, the general theme of a certain section can actually point to whether or not the section is intended for boys, girls or neither gender. It is seen in many ways including the color scheme of the section, the featured toys and, sometimes, even the salespersons manning the section. However, the toy stores aren’t explicit in their customers in terms of labeling a section either for boys or for girls. Most of the signs in the sections are only implicit in the themes that they take. Gender neutral sections are often filled with toys that are educational and electronic gadgets. Also, gender neutral sections often have neutral colors such as white and silver as opposed to the gendered colors of pink and blue. They are also often seen in the middle of the gendered section. In terms of packaging, some of the toys are explicit in their intended customers by showing either boys or girls playing with the toys they are selling printed on the boxes. Gender neutral toys are often printed with both a girl and a boy on the cover, cooperating or looking very intrigued as they play or tinker with the toys. Other gender-neutral toys have neither child involved but only a feature of the product without any action that denotes the culture’s (in this case, America’s) notion of femininity or masculinity. The colors are neutral – often just a white background – and does not feature any actions that could be seen as either soft (feminine) or hard (masculine). A gendered toy’s packaging, on the other hand, has an implicit message conveyed on the box. Action, competition, adrenaline, and the macho effect are often portrayed in the boxes of boys’ toys in the boys’ section. On the girls’ section, flowers, happy homes, cute and sexy themes seem to dominate the shelves; often, older themes of make-up and fashion are being made as toys, as if pushing for girls to be women at a younger age. Going further into the connection of age and gendered toys, there seems to be a pattern concerning gendering them with respect to age. This is not to say, however, that other toys that don’t fall into these two categories are not gender neutral. There are also toys, most belonging to sports, which are gender-neutral. Toddlers usually have gender neutral toys intended for two things. The first involves amusement in the form of dolls and other soft items that they can chew on, throw, fall on and hit without causing them any harm or danger. Some of these toys may be gendered but many of them are not. The second is to educate them. These educational toys are completely gender-neutral as toy-makers consider the minds of either sex of the children as capable of processing basic information that they should learn, such as knowing what a cow is and what sounds they make. And since toys are not exactly limited to children, some toys that can have adults as audiences as well, such as game consoles and sports-oriented toys, are gender-neutral and are only gendered when it comes to the accessories and other things that they append to these toys. Some examples include the game cartridges. Because of gendering of the majority of toys in the formative years of the child, the idea of femininity and masculinity are instilled in society in an ongoing cycle. The current society’s ideal of masculinity are seen instilled in children in the early stages, dictating and instilling ideas on how girls and boys should be and how they should grow up to be. This forces them to conform to society’s current ideas of them aside from possible biological and other external influences that dictate children from their earliest years. Although gender preference may change in the later years, the influence of toys given to children – even if it is â€Å"feminine† toys given to boys – is a factor in how these children grow up to be.

Art History Filippo Brunelleschi Scuptor and Architect of...

Art History: Renaissance Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the greatest sculptors and architects of the Renaissance. His architectural achievements consist of some of the most well known and impressive structures not only of the Renaissance, but today. Not only were his structures amazing, but during his time he also invented new technology that would allow for his structures to be built. What would happen if Brunelleschi never designed architecture? We would have lost his inventions, his structures, and all of the work he inspired in other artists. Brunelleschi’s career path changed from sculpture to architecture after his loss to Ghiberti during the competition for the Eastern Doors of the Florentine Baptistery. If Brunelleschi had won†¦show more content†¦The scene feels much more tense than that of Ghiberti, who has rendered his scene and figures more gracefully and more delicate. The scene is less active and more atmospheric with the figures appearing more relaxed and less intense than Bru nelleschi’s. In the end, the competition was concluded and agreed on by the judges that Ghiberti was the winner. Although in the books and articles I’ve read through, each has a slightly different version of how the competition winner was decided. Some say that it was unclear how they chose a winner, while another says that Donato and Brunelleschi both agreed that Ghiberti was the clear winner and might have been declared the winner because his panel required approximately 30% less bronze, A couple of the readings said that it was a tie and that they were both asked to work on the commission together, which upon further reading seems most likely accurate. Apparently the only two panels that survived were Brunelleschi’s and Ghiberti’s, which suggests that they tied because they made sure that they survived since they were so well done. Regardless of how the decision was determined, Brunelleschi forfeited his role in working on the doors that would eventually complete the Gates of Paradise. Brunelleschi decided that rather than be equal or second to someone, he would become the