Business and Information Systems - Hardcover

Robert C. Nickerson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0321013786 ISBN 13: 9780321013781

Publisher: Addison Books, 1998

Synopsis

Business and Information Systems is written specifically for the Introduction to Information Systems course, typically taught at freshman and sophomore levels. If you don't understand business, how can you understand information systems in business? Most introductory information systems textbooks assume the reader has already taken business courses or has extensive experience in business. This book does not. Nickerson combines the study of business and information systems at a level that is accessible for all students. Notice this is not a smaller, condensed version of a more advanced MIS textbook. Business and Information Systems can be packaged with Business and Information Systems Using Intuit's QuickBooks, a workbook and CD-ROM by Chuck Trepper at a discounted price.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

PREFACE

Information systems are essential to the operations and management of businesses today. To become effective business professionals, students must be educated in information systems and technology, and in the integration of information systems into business activities. A student's understanding of business is limited without an understanding of information systems. But how can a student understand information systems without first understanding business?

This question prompted the writing of the first edition of this book. The question is even more important today, as businesses increasingly rely on information systems. The second edition of Business and Information Systems continues to take the unique approach of covering both business fundamentals and information systems. The book views information systems and businesses as intricately intertwined. It presents not only the traditional information systems and technology topics, but also the fundamental business background that students need in order to understand the relevance of these topics. The book describes how businesses operate and are managed, and shows how information systems support business operations and management. It discusses the importance of competitive advantage to businesses and explains how information systems can help provide that advantage. The book covers the technical foundations of information systems and shows how the technology is critical to the success of businesses.

Students taking an information systems course often find the approach followed by other books unsatisfactory. Although most books explain information systems and technology adequately, they do not provide a sufficient foundation in business functions for students to fully understand the importance of the technical topics. As a result, students often complete the information systems course without knowing how the course material relates to other areas of business, such as accounting, finance, marketing, production, and human resource management. When they take other business courses, they are not able to use information systems concepts in those courses.

This book overcomes these difficulties by integrating business topics with information systems concepts. For example, the second chapter of the book explains business fundamentals. It describes the functions and organization of a business, explains the flow of information in a business, and examines the use of information in business management. This background serves as a basis for understanding the need for and structure of information systems. This approach is carried through in other chapters. For example, the chapter on information system fundamentals (Chapter 3) discusses the need that businesses have for information technology, and the chapters on specific technologies (Chapters 4 through 7) emphasize the role of each type of technology in businesses. Similarly, each chapter on business information systems (Chapters 8 through 12) discusses the advantages businesses gain from the systems described in the chapter. These chapters also cover such topics as management decision making and competitive advantage to provide a basis for understanding the role of management information and strategic information systems.

Students taking an information systems course may also find that some books provide a narrow view, focusing primarily on personal computers and applications. This book presents a broad view of information systems, showing how systems function at many levels within an organization and between organizations. It describes how individuals, workgroups, and organizations as a whole use information systems. It examines systems that operate within a business and between businesses—including electronic commerce systems—and that function at local, national, and global levels. All these perspectives, from the individual to the interorganizational and global, are covered completely in the book. Content and Organization

The book is organized into four parts. Part I introduces business and information systems concepts and examples. Chapter 1 motivates the students by showing that they will be involved with information systems as end users in their jobs and careers. Chapter 2 covers basic business concepts that students need to know in order to understand information systems. More advanced business concepts appear in later chapters, where they relate to different types of information systems. Chapter 3 examines the basic structure of information systems, emphasizing the need for each component of the system. This chapter also discusses ethical decision making and ethical issues for information systems in detail. With the background in Part I, the other parts of the book can be covered in any order.

Part II examines the information technology that forms a foundation for information systems. Chapter 4 covers information system hardware that is relevant to the user. Chapter 5 describes information system software, again emphasizing concepts that are most relevant to the user. Chapter 6 discusses networks used in information systems, including local area networks, wide area networks, internetworks, and the Internet. Chapter 7 covers data management for information systems, including database organization and processing.

Part III of the book examines information systems in businesses. Chapter 8 discusses the need for improving personal productivity in the workplace, explains how people use common end-user software to improve their productivity, and shows how users solve business problems using this software. Chapter 9 examines the importance of group collaboration in businesses and describes the groupware tools that encourage such collaboration. Chapter 10 covers basic business operations and explains how information systems can increase the efficiency of these operations. Chapter 11 examines management decision making, the information and analysis that can improve the effectiveness of decision making, and the information systems that provide the necessary support. Chapter 12 explains how information systems can have a strategic impact on a business and examines the types of systems that can have such an impact, with particular emphasis on electronic commerce systems. Numerous examples are used throughout this part of the book to illustrate the information systems that are described.

Part IV of the book discusses the development and management of information systems. Chapter 13 covers the development of information systems, with an emphasis on end-user involvement in the development process. Chapter 14 examines the management of information systems. Changes in the Second Edition

A number of changes, including the following, have been made in the second edition based on the experiences of users of the first edition.

Chapter 3 has been almost entirely rewritten to eliminate redundancy with other chapters. The emphasis in this chapter is on the business need for the technological and other components of the information system. The material on individual problem solving in Chapter 13 of the first edition has been moved to Chapter 8 and rewritten to increase its relevance. Other material in Chapter 13 that overlapped with Chapter 14 of the first edition has been eliminated. New material on electronic commerce has been incorporated throughout the book. Chapter 1 introduces electronic commerce, Chapter 6 covers information technology for electronic commerce, Chapter 12 discusses electronic commerce from an organizational perspective, Chapter 13 examines the development of electronic commerce systems, and case studies throughout the book examine applications of electronic commerce. Ethics in information systems has been moved to Part I, and the material has been expanded. Chapter 1 introduces ethics and the problem of evaluating ethical questions, and Chapter 3 covers ethical issues for information systems in detail. In addition, each chapter has a separate set of ethical questions in the end-of-chapter material. Coverage of the Internet and the World Wide Web has been expanded throughout the book. In addition, more cases emphasizing the Internet have been included, and separate end-of-chapter projects on the Internet, the Web, and e-commerce have been added to each chapter. All chapters have been updated to ensure that the material is current. A few examples of the many new topics are rewritable compact disk (Chapter 4), XML (Chapter 5), DSL (Chapter 6), multidimensional databases (Chapter 7), portals (Chapter 8), instant messaging (Chapter 9), ERP (Chapter 10), and knowledge management (Chapter 11). Almost all in-chapter boxed cases and end-of-chapter real-world cases have been replaced with newer cases. More electronic commerce and Internet/World Wide Web cases have been added. Key Features

The importance of information systems to end users is emphasized throughout the book. Starting with the first chapter, examples show how end users are involved in information systems. Part II discusses only the information technology topics that are immediately useful to end users

From the Back Cover:

Because information systems are essential to the operations of business today, students need to understand information systems and technology, and their integration into business activities. But how can a student understand the role of information systems in business without first understanding business and its functions?

This question prompted the writing of this text. Chapter, "Business Fundamentals", provides students with patient, clear explanations and numerous illustrations of basic business concepts that they need to know in order to fully comprehend the role of information systems in business.

Features of the Second Edition.

• Expanded coverage of the Internet and Electronic Commerce
  Both the Internet and Electronic Commerce introduced in Part I, and then integrated throughout the book. Chapter 1 introduces EC applications students are likely to know; Chapter 6 explores the technology behind Electronic Commerce; Chapter 12, "Electronic Commerce and the Strategic Impact of Information Systems," examines the topic from an organizational perspective; and Chapter 13 discusses developing systems for Electronic Commerce.
• Streamlined introduction to Information Systems Fundamentals
  Chapter 3 emphasizes the business need for the technological and other components of the information system.
• Chapter 8: Personal Productivity and Problem Solving
  Chapter 8 focuses on the need for improved personal productivity in the workplace and explores common end-user software to improve productivity and to solve business problems.
• Chapter 13: Problem Solving and Information System Development
  Chapter 13 focuses on the business need for systems development, including those designed for Electronic Commerce.
• Real-World Cases and Bookmarks Updates
  Cases adapted from sources such as Computerworld and Infoworld reflect today's hottest issues. The Bookmarks sections of the book provide students with relevant, current scenarios to illustrate key text concepts.
• www.prenhall.com/nickerson

About this edition

• Publisher: Addison Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0321013786
• ISBN 13: 9780321013781
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 501