d-11
Background info
The Role of Information System Managements (ISM)
Objective: Assess the uses of information systems in support of operational decision making in organizations. Competency in focus: Technology fluency.
Aninformation systemis a combination of technology-based hardware and software, people with the professional skills to make the hardware and software work, and procedures to make the foregoing function in support of overall enterprise strategy
There is adiscussion activityin which you willcritically assess themission, goals, and importance of ISM in the enterprise.Keep in mind that information systems are found in all types of enterprise, whether public or private, for-profit or non-profit.
Your attention is particularly invited to thevideo lecture by Professor McFarlanon the strategic nature of information technology, whoseoverall point is that skillful use of information technology can give a firm or other organization astrategic competitive advantage.
Description:Information technology is not just back-office technology; it is a strategic weapon in today’s business environment. IT makes companies survive, excel, and win.
Instruction:
Each student is tocritically assess the:
1. Mission 2. Goals 3. Importanceof information systems and their management (ISM) in the firm 4. Using their own work organization as an example.
Consider benefits, as well as costs/risks of information systems and information management, particularly under (increasing) public scrutiny and regulations aimed at protecting/ safeguarding/ maintaining many different kinds of information.
Clarification
A. Thesingle most important point madein these materials is that information systems, and their supporting information technology, plus the included telecommunications technology, arenot driversin well-managed organizations; rather, when properly used, they aresupportersof the business mission and strategy.
That is true of UM, where the mission is to educate, with the major marketing strategy to be online. It is also true of Amazon.com, where the mission is to make a profit selling a wide number of products, and the major marketing strategy is again, online.
B. Thesecond most important point, stressed by Professor McFarlan and epitomized by Amazon.com, Apple and Google, is that properly-designed and -implemented information systems can convey astrategic competitive advantageto their enterprises.
Example:Here is
a start
on contributing to this week’s discussions, with an example using UM as the firm.
Themissionof information systems management at University of Maryland Global Campus is tosupportthe teaching and administrative processes of the university in anefficient and effective (recall operations management)way.
Thegoalsof UM ISM include:
Being at thestate of the artin course delivery at a distance.That’s why we have usedZoom, D2L, Google- andpdfformat andaudio/videomaterials
Providing24x7 reliabilityin the Learning environment, inPeopleSoftand other essential information systems. For example, 360 Support is on call via message and telephone at all hours.
ConservingState and student (ie, tuition)resourcesin accomplishing the foregoing, which Maryland taxpayers and the state legislature expect.
Theimportance of ISM at UM is extremely high, given:
First, that the University has strategically decided to be the open university of Maryland and the United States, providing learning services to a growing student body mostly* at a distance, thus using information systems heavily.
Second, there are a plethora of state and federal regulations, plus community standards, that govern themanagement of informationat UM and thus provide continuing, importance-raising challenges.**
*Currently, about 82% of UM students study exclusively online, and another 10% learn through a “hybrid” online/F2F program. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UM has moved to 100% online for all students.
**One example is the accommodation requirements of the federal ADA – Americans with Disabilities – Act. These require that information be delivered at UM in ways that accommodate, for instance, visually- and hearing-impairedstudents.This means, for one example, that we must prepare – and pay for – transcripts of audio materials for hearing-impaired students (and some professors too).
