MBA 501 Managing the Networked Enterprise: An Introduction

1. MBA 501Managing the Networked Enterprise: An Introduction Week 1

2. Objectives of today’s class • To introduce you to the course learning outcomes, objectives, and materials • To introduce Networked Business Information Systems as an area of study for managers • To provide some basic explanations of key terminology • To give you an opportunity to think about trends in the use of information technology

3. Why study Business Information Systems Management? • Because you will... • be using information technology to manage business operations • be involved in decision-making about the purchase or outsourcing of IT services • be involved in managing organizations that use information technology (perhaps for mission-critical purposes) • Because you may.... • be involved in managing organizations whose whole business strategy is built on the capabilities of information technology to provide competitive advantage • manage the IS (Information Systems) function in an organization

4. What is the main challenge with managing information technology? • IT is an absolute requirement for all organizations – at the very least to maintain basic productivity and competitive parity • Companies spend high percentages of annual revenues on a function that didn’t exist 45 years ago • Incredible benefits and cost savings can be achieved YET • Senior managers and end users are very dissatisfied with IT – many IT projects fail • IT departments are very dissatisfied with IT consultants, applications providers, and hardware and software vendors

5. Some terminology • Information technology (IT) or Information / Communications Technology (ICT): Computer hardware and software, data, telecommunications and networks. • Business Information system (BIS): a system that captures data, transforms, and distributes it in the form of information needed by managers and staff to support business activities. (an IS can be computer-based or paper based, or a combination)

6. The IS function • The IS organization or function is the combination of: “technologies, people, processes, and organizational mechanisms for fostering use of IT to improve organizational performance” • The technology (IT) is often distinguished from the organization that manages it (IS)

7. Management of IS: major trends • Governance of IT: the locus of decision-making about IT is shifting to being a collaborative effort between IS and the business units • Outsourcing and strategic alliances becoming the norm - a major responsibility of IS is developing and managing relationships with external service providers • There is a on-going disagreement over whether technology drives business change or merely supports it – this impacts the importance of the IS function in the organization

8. Next week we will look at some of the major trends in technology …but now let’s see what you think about the past and future impact of technology