Chapter 4

A Look At The Computer Side

Now that we have established more of an understanding of components that make up an information system let delve a little deeper into them.  The aspects that we are going to look at specifically is the hardware and software as well as a general glance at data.  We live in a time where these components change by the day and where their functionality and applicability do the same. 

Data

Data in simplest form is called binary which means it is either a 1 or a 0.  This single amount of data is called a bit.  You can think in simple terms as it being a light switch in either the on or off position when talking about binary.  Bits make up all other measurements of data but the scale is not something people outside of the tech industry are often familiar with.  It steps up to a byte which is 8 bits.  To put it into perspective when you see a character displayed on your screen it is safe to assume that it represents one byte of data.  If you look at this blog in its entirety you can image there is an astronomically large number of bits and even bytes here but the scale quickly adjusts itself to allow us to manage and quantify these numbers.  After bytes you have kilobytes which is equal to 1,024 bytes.  This is where it gets confusing for most people, the scale starts at 8 but never returns and instead continues to use 1,024 as the number it scales.  Next we have megabytes which is 1,024 kilobytes.  Then, we have gigabytes and terabytes which are the next steps.  Most people are still familiar with these units because they are commonly used when quantifying the amount of space on memory devices such as hard drives, SD cards and mobile devices.  Then it moves on to petabytes, exabytes and zettabytes.  These units are not so well known but they use the same scale so understanding them is not the issue.  Visualizing them however requires a new perspective.  For example, it is estimated that the National Security Agency's data center that is used to monitor and record communication traffic holds around 16 petabytes of data.  That is a lot of data!  Further, it is estimated that all internet traffic across the globe will be in the neighborhood of 1.6 zettabytes by the end of 2018.  While these units are not so common the modern world of big data has made their existence necessary.

Now that we understand quantifying data we need to quickly take a look at the volatility of data.  Depending on where the data is stored it may or may not cease to exist once power is removed from the storage device.  On a disk drive or hard drive the data does not disappear when the power is removed from the device because it is "etched" on a disk so it exist physically to an extent.  This makes it nonvolatile.  However, when the same data is stored in flash random access memory it is temporary and only exist while the device has electrical current flowing through it.  This is called volatile data.  When considering the build of programs and systems choosing how the data is managed in the system is important due to these differences.  Lets take a look a the hardware we were just talking about and how it plays a role.

Hardware

Hardware in general has the same or very similar components regardless of what class we are talking about.  The class can vary from a personal computer to a server system all the way back down to small mobile device. They will have a CPU or a central processing unit.  The CPU can be thought of as the brain of the device.  Its function is to perform arithmetic and logical comparisons and it stores those outcomes in one or more forms of the devices memory.  The "data" power of a processor is measured in hertz which quantifies the clock cycle by the number of alternations per second. Thanks to the power of modern processors you will see this displayed in the form of gigahertz.  One gigahertz is equal to 1,000,000,000 hertz.  The higher the number the faster the processor is.  Modern processors can feature multiple cores which allow it to efficiently divide tasks across itself physically.  This increases the efficacy of machines significantly thanks to the multiprocessing requirement of our modern world.  The process that the CPU performs are derived from instructions it receives on some form of software which we will talk more about.  That brings us to memory, we know that it can be volatile or nonvolatile but why is there a need for that?  Well the first and most common form of memory to the layman is the storage memory.  In a PC this would be the hard drive in a server it would be many, many hard drives that can be organized in various ways.  This is the long term storage for devices and everything from the operating system to the paper you wrote last semester can be found here.  There is another form of memory called main memory.  This takes the form of small silicone boards made up of groups of flash memory called RAM or random access memory.  The purpose of RAM is to allow quick access and storage of data by the processor for items that is currently working on or expects to access soon.  This data can take the form of pieces of software or code, or it can be the document you have up in your word processor but haven't made a safe location for yet.  If it is being displayed on your screen outside of looking though a file directory you can assume that it is in your RAM in one form or another.  Again, these forms remain constant across device types, what changes is their data capacity and power.

We can divide the types of hardware into fairly simple groups.  The most common and well known is the personal computer.  This describes a full computer that takes the form of either a desktop or a laptop.  The advent of modern mobile technology requires us to add to this as there are devices now that behave and perform the same functions as a PC but go to their own group.  Smartphones, e-readers and tablets are forms of mobile hardware.  The distinction here is that they are mobile for the long term and not as powerful.  All of these devices in these two groups probably communicate with our next group at one time or another.  Servers are large immobile devices that have the sole function of managing large amounts of data and facilitating the communication of other devices with that data.  When one machine connects to a server it is considered a client which is a simple technical term for on system in communication with another.  Server farms is where these are most commonly seen, these are buildings with thousands of individual servers.  However it is possible to create a server that takes the form in a standards PC tower.  It all depends on the scope of the task at hand.

Software

There several types of software that exist in the tech world.  The most basic form is the operating system or OS.  The OS is a program that controls a computers resources.  All other forms of software are either integrated into the OS or use it to interact with the hardware of the device.  An example of an OS is the ever prevalent Windows OS or Windows 10 in its current iteration.  Next we have applications.  These are split into two groups, native applications and web applications.  Native applications are designed to run on a particular operating system generally and are installed on the devices storage hardware.  These can exist in the form of common applications known ad horizontal-market applications.  This includes applications that are used across a wide range of industries such as Microsoft Word or Google Chrome.  There is also vertical-market applications which serve the need of  specific industry.  The software your mechanic uses for billing of your dentist uses for managing your information and records are examples.  These are often highly customizable as the specific needs for individual customers vary and their focused build allows for various features to be built-in.  Finally we have one-of-a-kind applications.  These would be purpose build by an organization to be used to preform very specific tasks.  Examples might include the software the NSA uses to manage and search its intelligence database.  These not as common as the other groups as their development is often very expensive and their need is not as prevalent.  Something the first two have in common and it is an important aspect for managers to understand is that when a customer pays for the software they are not buying the software itself rather they are buying a license to install and use the software.  The software itself i.e. the code is still owned by the company that produced it.  Open Source software is the exception to this rule.  Open Source software is developed by a community that generally works for free.  The source code or back bone of the program is avliable to the general public at no cost.  OpenOffice and the Linux operating system are examples of such forms of software.  Finally, we have firmware.  This is a form of software that is installed on devices themselves and are integrated in such a way they are essentially part of the device itself.  Printers, wireless headphones and MP3 players all need software to operate but these are not applications that can generally be changed.  Think of it as an OS for smaller devices.  

Components Summary

All of this information is quite general and it is important to keep in mind that in the modern tech world it can change overnight.  There are forms of hardware today that are beating down long known stats quos such as 3D printing, self driving cars and the all inclusive internet of things.  The same thing is happening with the software virtualization allowing us to easily move and manipulate the software component on one machine to that of another or on another.  In the tech world it is quite regular to see a software engineer test their Linux code for a server farm on their Windows PC.  Modern virtualization software allows them to "create" a virtual version of a Linux OS on their desktop.  This has even led to the virtualization of individual personal desktops allowing users to access the full range of their PC remotely from any PC in the world.  I imagine that the changes these pioneering systems will bring to the MIS world will be wide and sweeping.  I personally can't wait to see whats next.  

Chapter 3

Strategy Matters

When we are making considerations to MIS business strategy must always be taken into account.  When a company has an established competitive strategy the aspects of that strategy will influence the system itself just as it influences the organization as a whole.  Lets take some time and discuss some aspects of business strategy, a couple of well regarded models and how this really can be vital information regarding our MIS.  By the end of this entry we should all have a good understanding of how the strategy exerts influence on the structure, features and overall function of information systems.

The Five Forces

A commonly used model for business strategy is the Five Forces model.  It was published by researcher Michael Porter and is an excellent model for understanding the overall structure of an Industry.  Once you are able to understand the structure you can develop your strategy much more effectively.  The Five Forces model takes into account the following forces that have an effect on an industry as a whole: bargaining power of customers, threat of substitutions, bargaining power of suppliers, threat of new entrants and rivalry.  

These forces are evaluated of a level of weak to strong in order to understand how much of an effect they may have on any potential  business strategy.  Lets talk about the forces in detail starting with bargaining power of customers.  This force addresses the relative power of a customer to influence their purchases or acquisitions or in other words the total value they receive.  A strong example would be where a customer can demand a discount due to the size of their purchase or weak example would be an industry where customer service is not a powerful force such as in the industry of ambulance operators.  Next we have the threat of substitutions which evaluates how easy it is for customers to switch be tween products or vendors.  A strong example would be in the beer industry where there is great variety and no extra cost in trying something new where as a weak example would be in the aviation part industry where there is often no other choice other than to purchase your parts directly from the manufacturer.  That brings us to the bargaining power of suppliers, this is the same of that of the consumer except now we are addressing a suppliers ability to manipulate the price they receive for their product.  A strong example would be going to an auto mechanic, they assess the value of the work they preform with no over site from the consumer other than the possibility of an estimate.  A weak example of the bargaining power of a supplier would be in the industry of healthcare in a government sponsored single payer system, the medical institution has zero bargaining power as the prices of their services is predetermined by the government.  Threat of new entrants is another force that can have an effect on a industry.  This evaluates the ability of new competitors to enter an industry as a whole.  Business that are easy to replicate such as a car wash have a strong force here where those with barriers to entry such as a business with high start up cost of a low force.  Finally, we have the force of rivalries.  A good way to look at this is the amount of competitors that already exist in an industry.  I think that strong and weak are pretty straight forward here.  Once we have a strong understanding of the forces in the industry in question we can begin to formulate our competitive strategy.

Strategize Competitively

When a competitive strategy is developed we are simply deciding how to respond to the structure of an industry as it is understood.  Michael Porter has a second model that does a good job of generalizing the possibilities available in any industry.  It is a model of four strategies that are reached by choosing one aspect to purse from two sections that have two options.  

            

First we decide whither our product will compete by being cheaper or by being better.  That is a pretty simple concept and there isn't really any need to complicate it more.  Obviously a lower cost product will have a competitive advantage to some degree and a better product will too, often even if their is a significant premium associated with it.  Once we have decided which option is more beneficial in our industry we have to decide whither the benefits are greater if we focus on the industry as a whole or if we corner a specific segment.  Note:  It is possible that you need to evaluate the benefits to focusing on a segment of the industry versus the whole of it first.  This structure of the industry could make it obvious which has the greater potential.  

The Next Step - Value Chain

With our general competitive strategy selected we can now begin to build our value chain.  Just as the industry structure influences the competitive strategy so too does the competitive strategy influence the value chain.  A value chain is simply a network of  activities that create value.  A generic model exist that is generally applicable and provides a good and simplified overview of value chains.

First we have the inbound logistics activity.  This is the step in the chain where we bring in raw materials for our manufacturing or service.  Next we have the operations or manufacturing step.  Here we would process or raw materials or service materials into a product that can be sold.  (Service is the product that is sold be even that has a process i.e. The installation of a new compressor on a refrigerator).  Outbound logistics is another step in the chain.  This is the process of either shipping our product out or even managing or inventory of raw materials in a manner that allows us to easily monetize them.  We also have sales and marketing activities.  These are activities that connect our product to the customer or even the customer to our products.  Finally there customer service activities, while it is a general term it simply involves anything that assist the customer with the use of the product.  This could include maintenance, training or even warranty replacement.  All of these activites would be called primary activities in a value chain.  They are supplemented with support activities which are simply activities that contribute to the completion of a primary activity such as operating a call center for customer service.  

It is important to understand that the value chain does not have to interact with itself in a linear fashion.  Linkages or interactions across activities can connect any one activity with another.

Processes In The Chain

We now have arrived at business process themselves which include activities that make up our chain. They can be defined as a network of activities that generate value by transforming inputs into outputs.  Something goes in and something different comes out that has a greater value.  An activity is not limited to being part of only once process which is important to keep in mind.  As an example in a factory setting raw materials would be included in two different processes.  First it is part of the materials ordering process that would fall under our inbound logistics activity.  It is also part of the manufacturing process which is a manufacturing/service activity.  Think about how value is created in the processes.   A process could include many different activities that involve consist of multiple primary value chain activities and any one could be connected to another.   The design, maintenance and implementation of these processes is called business process management.  

Back To MIS

So where does out mother subject fit in?  MIS fits in anywhere it can in the chain.  Information systems can be used to give a competitive advantage in almost any aspect of a business value chain.  It can replace older process or link existing ones together to create another new process that provides new value.  The examples are near limitless but I will provide a couple of examples for entertainment value.  First, we could maintain our logistics network though paper records and paper invoices or we could digitize the process and provide hardware for our drivers and warehouse technicians to interact and use our system.  That is the replacement of a process.  Now that we have that in place however we could link or logistics with our sales in a way that wasn't possible before.  We could use the shipped from address data and compile a database of frequent customers in a geographical area and send those customers free shipping envelopes and boxes.  This could provide a fantastic advantage in an industry where substitutions are a strong force.  This is a fine example of the role of strategy in MIS, it can be both the how and they why which is why it is so important.

Chapter 2

Collaboration Information Systems

Now that we have a good understanding of what an Information System really is let's build on that foundation and discuss the aspects of a specific type.  Collaborative Information Systems are exactly what they sound like, systems designed to enable groups of people to collaborate.  There is a wide variety of systems out there that offer various degrees of service but they all have the ability to increase the productivity and effectiveness of teams engaged in a collaborative process.  Before we talk about the specifics of the these types of Information Systems let's make sure that we have a good understanding of what collaboration is and how it works in the modern workplace.

Cooperation vs. Collaboration

Okay, so what is collaboration really and how is it different from the more commonly inferred cooperation?  Cooperation is a pretty simple concept with a simple definition; A group of people working together doing the same type of work to accomplish a job.  Examples of cooperation include a team of construction stone masons building a brick wall or gardeners re-sodding a soccer field.  Collaboration is a little bit more involved than that, it is a group of people working together to achieve a common goal via a process of feedback and iteration.

There are some significant differences in those definitions.  First off, in a collaborative process individuals may not be doing the same type of work, in fact they may be conducting work in field that is almost completely unrelated.  Secondly, there must be some form of feedback in the process and it must be implemented in iterations.  The feedback during the collaborative process should always be critical or feedback that questions what has been established or points out weaknesses.  Feedback that simply provides a good or bad review as not as useful for a team and does not drive positive change in the desired direction.  Pointing out short comings or suggesting alternative actions that may be better or more efficient however does exactly that.  Completing this review and improvement process in iterations ensures that product under construction is continually improved and is done so in a manner that most ensures all aspects of its applications are taken into careful considerations.  

When collaboration is done with effective critical feedback in iterations it ensures that it's final product is better and more effective that when any single individual or entity could produce on their own.  The is where the true value of collaboration lies in the corporate world and efforts should be taken to ensure when collaborative information systems are being considered this aspect is always taken into consideration.

Criteria For Collaboration

There exist a prescribed criteria for collaboration that allows us to gauge teams success.  J. Richard Hackman created this specific set of criteria though many years of studying the aspects of team work. He list a successful outcome, growth in team capability and a meaningful and satisfying experience as  a good parameters to judge the overall success of a collaborative effort.  

The first, a successful outcome should be pretty obvious.  If the task assigned is not accomplished then the collaboration effort simply wasn't successful.  But what if the task was completed but was late or what if it went over budget?  Depending on the circumstances of the task it may be a complete and total failure in that case.  If a project is completed three days after the information can be useful then obviously the mission of the team has not been accomplished.  In the business world you must always take time and money into account.  

How does growth in team capability factor in?  Is it possible for a team to achieve a successful outcome without growth?  Probably not, but even if it were when a team grows in a professional workplace the long term benefits of that growth pay dividends, without it the team certainly was not as successful as they could have been.  Teams members can gain a better understanding of other members jobs and in so may see ways to complete their jobs more effectively.  They may also discover that some of the tasks that were completed or assigned while working toward their end goal were not useful in the first iteration and could either be combined with other tasks or even removed completely.  Understanding was to improve the process is always a valuable thing as it will save time and therefore money the next time the team meets to achieve the same or similar goal.  

Finally, when evaluating success we should consider whether or not the team members had a meaningful and satisfying experience while working to achieve their goal.  When team members work in a world where they find their day-to-day tasks meaningful and satisfying they will almost certainly be more productive and strive to meet a higher standard than when they do not.  This is something that can be both gained or lost during the collaborative process.  We can make take steps to help team members see their part as meaningful and satisfying.  Making sure they know where the task is applicable in the larger picture and just how negative the results of its departure could be allows team members to put their tasks in a motivating perspective.  Also, when a team member is given credit for their work they often perceive that task to be more meaningful so whenever possible managers should hand out accolades for jobs well done.  Lastly ensuring that the team is able to build a camaraderie allows them to remain energized and positive when engaged.  This doesn't mean everyone has to like everyone but they should be able to all feel like they are a valuable member of the group.  

Purposes of Collaboration

Okay, armed with our knowledge of what collaboration is and what makes it successful lets examine when we collaborate and some aspects of those reasons.  Collaboration teams achieve four purposes during their process.  They become informed, make decisions, solve problems and manage projects.  The purposes are generally achieved in the above order chronologically.

Teams become informed throughout the process but it is important that steps are taken from the launching point to ensure this is done effectively.  The team should know what its purpose is, what its roles are and understand the end goal.  Doing this in a manner that gives all members the same perspective ensures that when, as part of our IS, the analyze data that they conceive information in the same manner for the same reasons.  This is invaluable when ensuring that all members are working toward the same goal. 

When teams make decisions they do so on three different levels; operational, managerial and strategic.  Each decision made will be done in one of two processes, structured or unstructured.  Structured process are ones which there is an established and well understood method for making the decision in question.  Unstructured is just the opposite, no agreed on decision making method exist.  Unstructured decisions often are collaborative while structured decisions are often not. Operational decisions are those that support day-to-day activities such as number of items that need to be ordered.  Operational decisions are generally structured decisions.  Managerial decisions are those regarding the allocation and utilization of resources.  Examples include budgeting and workforce assignments.  Managerial decisions can be both structured or unstructured depending on the specificity of the decision. Last are strategic decisions, these are those which are made in support of large organizational issues such as whether to establish a new product line or decentralize a specific organization.  Strategic decisions are almost always unstructured and require collaboration.

Solving problems is the next mission of collaboration.  We can say we have identified a problem when when we perceive a difference between what is and what we think should be.  It is important to keep in mind that what is perceived can vary from person to person and organization to organization.  This is why it is important the teams become informed before taking any other steps, ensuring the team has the same goal ensures they are viewing the problems from the same perspective.   It is also important when deciding a problem exist to quantify the solution to the problem.  If you know that travel expenditures are too high for your organization, simply stating you intend to lower them is not enough.  You must quantify the goal in order for the team to evaluate their progress toward the common goal. 

Managing projects is another purpose of collaboration.  Projects exist to create or produce something.  There is a diverse and widely varied list of reasons that fit that purpose but they all should adhere to the same core phases;  Starting, planning, doing, and finalizing.  Starting is very similar to the information purpose.  You should establish rule and team roles as well ensuring the the levels of authority are understood.  Planning is the phase where the tasks and their dependencies are determined.  Dependencies exist when something must be completed before it is possible to accomplish the next task.  During planning it is important to assign the tasks and create a schedule for their completion.  If a budget was established during the starting phase you should make sure to re-evaluate it it during planning in case parameters have changed. Once a plan is in place we have to carry it out, this brings us to the doing phase.  At this point management's task is to ensure things are on time and on budget, if problems exist the management should be able to pinpoint them early on.  Make sure to re-evaluate the tasks as the project progresses, this ensures resources are allocated appropriate and time is not wasted, make scheduling adjustments where appropriate.  Also, make sure that progress, changes and assignments are documented for brief, debrief and future use.

With all that done we come to the finalizing phase.  The first question to ask here is are we done?  If not go back to the doing phase.  If the answer is yes, then we must document our results so that we can report appropriately, debrief and disband our teams and ensure the project is closed on all fronts.

Requirements for Collaboration IS

We looking at the requirements for a collaboration information system we can use the five-component framework that we discussed in chapter 1.  Again, this system is applicable to all information systems thought the details of the components may vary from system to system.  The hardware of a collaboration information system must allow for every team member to have a device that allows them to interact.  This is also important for the software component, it must allow data to be shared and for communication to effectively take place.  When we discuss the date we must look at it though two lenses, project data and project metadata.  Project data is what we are sharing and communicating about though our software, many members will need access to the same project data and it must be managed effectively on larger, more complex projects.  Project metadata is used to manage the workflow of the project itself.  This includes the schedules, tasks budgets and other managerial data.  Metadata does not need to be seen or edited by most members, it can be disseminated thought your communication resources.  Next is the processes component, it must ensure that standards for teamwork are part of the procedures.  This should include establishing authority to access, review and edit data as well as to instruct members.  Last we have the people component.  The people should be team oriented with an understanding of the value of critical feedback and how and when to use collaborative applications.

Putting It To Use

The system that incorporates all of the above will be well suited to allow teams to communicate well, share content and manage tasks effectively.  These are the end results of a well developed collaborative system.  There is a wide variety of well established systems out there, SharePoint, GoogleDrive, OneDrive, WebEx just to name a few.  All of the tools have a different core purpose and are applicable to different degrees but the are all excellent examples of well developed collaborative information systems.  If you get the opportunity take the time to explore these different systems.  In depth knowledge of modern collaboration information systems is always in high demand and can be an asset to you in the professional world regardless of the field you work in.

IT As A Commodity

We are going to hop on a tangent here for a moment and look at IT through the eyes of Nicholas G. Carr and consider points the he makes in his article, "IT Doesn't Matter"  which was published in May, 2003 in the business management magazine Harvard Business Review.  The article itself is an interesting read and it's publication alone brought Mr. Carr to light as a well respected technology writer, if you have not read the article take a moment to do so here. 

 Mr. Carr starts his article by talking about the evolution of IT and comparing to the evolution of other technologies that we can now consider a commodity such as electricity and the railroads.  Merriam-Webster defines commodity as 1. A mass-produced unspecialized product or 4. A good or service whose wide availability typically leads to smaller profit margins and diminishes the importance of factors other than price. Mr. Carr talks about ITs beginnings in the PC worlds and the fact that managers viewed them as nothing more than "glorified typewriters and calculators".  This was certainly true, before Moore's Law truly began to take its course the processing power of the average PC in the workplace wasn't capable of much more and the modern software market was non existent.  He compares this to the first industrial integrators of electricity for manufacturing and how they simply built near power plants due to lack of infrastructure and only tied their existing systems into the new technology as opposed to rebuilding to its specialized purpose.  However much like their industrial revolution counterparts early adopters of the PC who were able to digitize their business model and design and build special purpose systems were able to gain a considerable competitive advantage.  

Carr goes on to state that while these advantages were significant it certainly did not cement a company as the industry leader.  He relays a story that does a good job of showing our consideration of "Laws" in Chapter 1 is truly important in the real world.  He uses the example of American Hospital Supply which was the first medical supply company to introduce an automated and computerized order system.  This proprietary software led to AHS becoming the industry leader and allowed them to grow by leaps and bounds, Carr states that "From 1978 to 1983 AHS's sales and profits rose at annual rates of 13% and 18%...".  This was great but as Carr points out their system was localized and closed and outdated, after the advent of more modern software and networking the original system was far less superior to that of the competition's.  This led to AHS executives viewing the proprietary system as "a millstone around their necks".  Other companies however did not fail to continue to develop their systems and consider new areas of IT integration using pre-developed software available on the market.  It shortly became the standard in many fields which is what leads to the question Carr poses, Does IT really matter?  Carr tells us that now having IT is the standard, moreover, the standard has a standard.  IT systems tend to not give a competitive edge that is as sharp as it once was.  It is no longer cost-effective to build proprietary systems as buying packaged software is an option and much cheaper, however, it can be assumed your competition will do the same.   The software firms integrate into their operations is now as efficient as it possibly can be as the best practices for its use are now built in and will continue to be so by its design.  It makes IT essential in the modern world of business and it now fits quite nicely into our definitions of a commodity, especially when you consider hardware uses as well as more common software suites.  

Carr states, "When a resource becomes essential to competition but inconsequential to strategy, the risks it creates become more important than the advantages it provides."  Carr drives this home by pointing that a study by Forrester Research showed that the 25 firms that delivered the highest economic returns spent just 0.8% of their revenues on IT when the average was 3.7%.  This seems to show that IT is nowhere near as significant of a factor in profit determination as it once was and shows that in the modern world of business it can a fiscal sinkhole.  The evolution of IT in general and its, in large part, inevitable future as a simple commodity makes its overall value and general direction far less certain that it once was.  One that is for sure is that IT and the systems that employ it are not going away.