After studying this chapter you will be able to understand: Historical background of information system, information system today, terminology related to MIS and IS, types of information systems, early history of IS with other disciplines.
History Business Management Information System Lecture A Little History n U.S passed from the industrial era to the information era as early as 1957 ă The number of U.S employees whose jobs were primarily to handle information surpassed the number of industrial workers n In the late ’50s / ‘60s IT to support “information work” = largely non-existent (except telephone) ă Information work = mostly done in general offices without much support from technology n People factories? IBM hosted conference stated that: “The advances that have taken place in calculating equipment and methods make it possible to determine the relationship between ultimate yields, time of harvest and climatic conditions during the growing season Relationship between the perspective and actual yields and changing prices can be established With such information at hand the farmer should be in a position to make a decision on his prediction with a high degree of certainty at mid-season regarding his yield and income at harvest time.” This statement, made in 1963, reflects the optimism that prevailed with respect to information systems Even though there was much enthusiasm related to these early systems they basically concentrated on accounting activities and production records q Examples include the TelFarm electronic accounting system at Michigan State University and DHIA for dairy operations q A Little History cont q Accounting activities and production records has been understood by farm management economists q Financial and production records have long been used by these Economists as an instrument to measure and evaluate the success of a farm business q Increased enthusiasm for information systems to enhance management decision processes A Little History cont The model base component of the system has decision models that relate to operational, tactical and strategic decisions n The database/model base management system is the bridge between database and model base components n Continue The user interface, one of the more critical features of the system, is used to assist the decision maker in making more efficient and effective use of the system n The decision maker must have the skills and knowledge on how to correctly use these systems to address the unique problem situation at hand n Decision Support System Continue The international conference that followed in France focused on the low adaption rate of management information systems n The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in conjunction with geographic positioning systems (GPS) to record and display data regarding cropping operations (e.g., yields obtained) and to control production inputs (e.g., fertilizer levels) n (…) By the mid 1960s it became clear that the accounting systems were fairly effective in supplying descriptive and diagnostic information but they lacked the capacity to provide predictive and prescriptive information n A new approach was needed – a method of doing forward planning or a management information system that was more model oriented n Systems manage and transfer money worldwide and communicate worldwide n Virtually all major administrative functions are supported by automated system n Many people now file their taxes over the Internet and have their refunds credited (or money owning deducted) from bank accounts automatically n MIS was thus the first major system of the Information Age At present the initials IT are coming into universal use n "Information Technology" is now the category to designate any and all software-hardware-communications structures that today work like a virtual nervous system of society at all levels n The mid-sixties IS was already forging its way into business mainstream n Computers remained out of reach for most businesses, telecommunications made its mark with the TELEX machine n This step gave businesses the ability to communicate within its own organization anywhere in the world at any time and effectively pass instructions and information n The use of computer in business and industry usually started off in the accounting departments n a number of business school began developing Management Information System (MIS) programs to meet the growing need of IS managers n During the seventies more upper management recognized the importance of IS and the flexibility it was bring to business n The TELEX became the standard of information transfer and the mainframe computer became the standard for database creation n n IS begins to receive its own autonomy and large budgets in corporations, many technical savvy managers of these new departments begin spending huge amount of money on systems and software at their own discretion and many time out spend all other departments without any returns to the business These were troubling and risky times for CEO's deciding to direct the business into IS based systems n The systems and software were complex, continually changing, and the people that knew the systems tended have their own agendas n Mainframes Vs PCs n This new rush in what is now referred to as e-mail, was brought about by the invention of the mini and micro computer, which could put and entire system on an executives desk for a very low price compared to mainframes and the ability to have an autonomous system with out pay huge amounts of money to process information n Once again turmoil enters the relationships of IS and businesses, where software and hardware vendors begin making demands on businesses to switch there style of business to fit the computer systems n There was little standardization of software and hardware with many start up companies that went under there after leaving business with out any technical or system support, resulting in spending above budgets to install entirely new systems n The desire to support different departments of a corporation with IS and the new affordability of hardware and software each department began to put IS programs together independently of MIS department Quality Initiatives in IS Development n The mid-eighties were the time most manufacturing companies began to shift to IS to forecast sales, take orders, and manage distribution of products n Time Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web in 1989 This protocol HTML used over the existing Internets that had been constructed opened up a new era of EDI the world had never seen n The mid-1990's it became apparent that there is no way for a corporation to efficiently business without a solid functioning IS setup inside its own walls as well as connected with its supply-chain vendors and distributors n n EDI once known as Electronic Data Processing (EDP) have now brought profit margins so low that any business that does not prepare itself will be out of business in the next five years Summary ă Historical background of information system ă Information system today ă Terminology related to MIS and IS ă Types of Information Systems Early history of IS with other disciplines ... the success of a farm business q Increased enthusiasm for information systems to enhance management decision processes A Little History cont The model base component of the system has decision... focused on the low adaption rate of management information systems n The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in conjunction with geographic positioning systems (GPS) to record and display... The resource for this improvement is information technology Turban (1990) n n A management information system is a formal, computer-based (but need not be) system intended to retrieve, extract,