Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Managing and Using
Information Systems
A STRATEGIC APPROACH
Sixth Edition
Keri E. Pearlson
KP Partners
Carol S. Saunders
W.A. Franke College of Business
Northern Arizona University
Dr. Theo and Friedl Schoeller Research Center for Business and Society
Dennis F. Galletta
Katz Graduate School of Business
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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ISBN: 978-1-119-24428-8 (BRV)
ISBN: 978-1-119-24807-1 (EVALC)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pearlson, Keri E. | Saunders, Carol S. | Galletta, Dennis F.
Title: Managing and using information systems: a strategic approach / Keri
E. Pearlson, Carol S. Saunders, Dennis F. Galletta.
Description: 6th edition. | Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2015] |
Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015041210 (print) | LCCN 2015041579 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119244288 (loose-leaf : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781119255208 (pdf) | ISBN 9781119255246 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Knowledge management. | Information technology—Management. |
Management information systems. | Electronic commerce.
Classification: LCC HD30.2 .P4 2015 (print) | LCC HD30.2 (ebook) | DDC 658.4/038011—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015041210
Printing identification and country of origin will either be included on this page and/or the end of the book. In addition, if the ISBN on this
page and the back cover do not match, the ISBN on the back cover should be considered the correct ISBN.
Printed in the United States of America
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Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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To Yale & Hana
To Rusty, Russell, Janel & Kristin
To Carole, Christy, Lauren, Matt, Gracie, and Jacob
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Preface
Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don’t think anybody can talk
meaningfully about one without the talking about the other.
Bill Gates
Microsoft1
I’m not hiring MBA students for the technology you learn while in school, but for your ability to learn about, use
and subsequently manage new technologies when you get out.
IT Executive
Federal Express2
Give me a fish and I eat for a day; teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime.
Proverb
Managers do not have the luxury of abdicating participation in decisions regarding information systems (IS).
Managers who choose to do so risk limiting their future business options. IS are at the heart of virtually every
business interaction, process, and decision, especially when the vast penetration of the Web over the last 20 years
is considered. Mobile and social technologies have brought IS to an entirely new level within firms and between
individuals in their personal lives. Managers who let someone else make decisions about their IS are letting
someone else make decisions about the very foundation of their business. This is a textbook about managing and
using information written for current and future managers as a way to introduce the broader implications of the
impact of IS.
The goal of this book is to assist managers in becoming knowledgeable participants in IS decisions. Becoming
a knowledgeable participant means learning the basics and feeling comfortable enough to ask questions. It does
not mean having all the answers or having a deep understanding of all the technologies out in the world today. No
text will provide managers everything they need to know to make important IS decisions. Some texts instruct on
the basic technical background of IS. Others discuss applications and their life cycles. Some take a comprehensive
view of the management information systems (MIS) field and offer readers snapshots of current systems along with
chapters describing how those technologies are designed, used, and integrated into business life.
This book takes a different approach. It is intended to provide the reader a foundation of basic concepts relevant
to using and managing information. This text is not intended to provide a comprehensive treatment on any one
aspect of MIS, for certainly each aspect is itself a topic of many books. This text is not intended to provide readers
enough technological knowledge to make them MIS experts. It is not intended to be a source of discussion of any
particular technology. This text is written to help managers begin to form a point of view of how IS will help or
hinder their organizations and create opportunities for them.
The idea for this text grew out of discussions with colleagues in the MIS area. Many faculties use a series of
case studies, trade and popular press readings, and Web sites to teach their MIS courses. Others simply rely on one
of the classic texts, which include dozens of pages of diagrams, frameworks, and technologies. The initial idea for
this text emerged from a core MIS course taught at the business school at the University of Texas at Austin. That
course was considered an “appetizer” course—a brief introduction into the world of MIS for MBA students. The
course had two main topics: using information and managing information. At the time, there was no text like this
1
2
Bill Gates, Business @ the Speed of Thought. New York: Warner Books, Inc. 1999.
Source: Private conversation with one of the authors.
iv
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Preface
v
one; hence, students had to purchase thick reading packets made up of articles and case studies to provide them the
basic concepts. The course was structured to provide general MBA students enough knowledge of the MIS field so
that they could recognize opportunities to use the rapidly changing technologies available to them. The course was
an appetizer to the menu of specialty courses, each of which went much more deeply into the various topics. But
completion of the appetizer course meant that students were able to feel comfortable listening to, contributing to,
and ultimately participating in IS decisions.
Today, many students are digital natives—people who have grown up using information technologies (IT) all
of their lives. That means that students come to their courses with significantly more knowledge about things such
as tablets, apps, personal computers, smartphones, texting, the Web, social networking, file downloading, online
purchasing, and social media than their counterparts in school just a few years ago. This is a significant trend
that is projected to continue; students will be increasingly knowledgeable the personal use of technologies. That
knowledge has begun to change the corporate environment. Today’s digital natives expect to find in corporations
IS that provide at least the functionality they have at home. At the same time, these users expect to be able to work
in ways that take advantage of the technologies they have grown to depend on for social interaction, collaboration,
and innovation. We believe that the basic foundation is still needed for managing and using IS, but we understand
that the assumptions and knowledge base of today’s students is significantly different.
Also different today is the vast amount of information amassed by firms, sometimes called the “big data” problem. Organizations have figured out that there is an enormous amount of data around their processes, their interactions with customers, their products, and their suppliers. These organizations also recognize that with the increase
in communities and social interactions on the Web, there is additional pressure to collect and analyze vast amounts
of unstructured information contained in these conversations to identify trends, needs, and projections. We believe
that today’s managers face an increasing amount of pressure to understand what is being said by those inside and
outside their corporations and to join those conversations reasonably and responsibly. That is significantly different
from just a few years ago.
This book includes an introduction, 13 chapters of text and mini cases, and a set of case studies, supplemental
readings, and teaching support on a community hub at http://pearlsonandsaunders.com. The Hub provides faculty
members who adopt the text additional resources organized by chapter, including recent news items with teaching
suggestions, videos with usage suggestions, blog posts and discussions from the community, class activities, additional cases, cartoons, and more. Supplemental materials, including longer cases from all over the globe, can be
found on the Web. Please visit http://www.wiley.com/college/pearlson or the Hub for more information.
The introduction to this text defends the argument presented in this preface that managers must be knowledgeable participants in making IS decisions. The first few chapters build a basic framework of relationships among
business strategy, IS strategy, and organizational strategy and explore the links among them. The strategy chapters
are followed by ones on work design and business processes that discuss the use of IS. General managers also need
some foundation on how IT is managed if they are to successfully discuss their next business needs with IT professionals who can help them. Therefore, the remaining chapters describe the basics of information architecture
and infrastructure, IT security, the business of IT, the governance of the IS organization, IS sourcing, project
management, business analytics, and relevant ethical issues.
Given the acceleration of security breaches, readers will find a new chapter on IS security in this sixth edition of
the text. Also, the material on analytics and “big data” has been extensively updated to reflect the growing importance of the topic. Further, the chapter on work design has been reorganized and extensively revised. Each of the
other chapters has been revised with newer concepts added, discussions of more current topics fleshed out, and old,
outdated topics removed or at least their discussion shortened.
Similar to the fifth edition, every chapter begins with a navigation “box” to help the reader understand the flow
and key topics of the chapter. Further, most chapters continue to have a Social Business Lens or a Geographic Lens
feature. The Social Business Lens feature reflects on an issue related to the chapter’s main topic but is enabled by or
fundamental to using social technologies in the enterprise. The Geographic Lens feature offers a single idea about
a global issue related to the chapter’s main topic.
No text in the field of MIS is completely current. The process of writing the text coupled with the publication
process makes a book somewhat out‐of‐date prior to delivery to its audience. With that in mind, this text is written
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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vi
Preface
to summarize the “timeless” elements of using and managing information. Although this text is complete in and
of itself, learning is enhanced by combining the chapters with the most current readings and cases. Faculty are
encouraged to read the news items on the faculty Hub before each class in case one might be relevant to the topic of
the day. Students are encouraged to search the Web for examples related to topics and current events and bring them
into the discussions of the issues at hand. The format of each chapter begins with a navigational guide, a short case
study, and the basic language for a set of important management issues. These are followed by a set of managerial
concerns related to the topic. The chapter concludes with a summary, key terms, a set of discussion questions, and
case studies.
Who should read this book? General managers interested in participating in IS decisions will find this a good
reference resource for the language and concepts of IS. Managers in the IS field will find the book a good resource
for beginning to understand the general manager’s view of how IS affect business decisions. And IS students will
be able to use the book’s readings and concepts as the beginning in their journey to become informed and successful businesspeople.
The information revolution is here. Where do you fit in?
Keri E. Pearlson, Carol S. Saunders, and Dennis F. Galletta
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Acknowledgments
Books of this nature are written only with the support of many individuals. We would like to personally thank
several individuals who helped with this text. Although we’ve made every attempt to include everyone who helped
make this book a reality, there is always the possibility of unintentionally leaving some out. We apologize in
advance if that is the case here.
Thank you goes to Dr. William Turner of LeftFour, in Austin, Texas, for help with the infrastructure and
architecture concepts and to Alan Shimel, Editor‐in‐Chief at DevOps.com for initial ideas for the new security
chapter.
We also want to acknowledge and thank pbwiki.com. Without its incredible and free wiki, we would have been
relegated to e‐mailing drafts of chapters back and forth, or saving countless files in an external drop box without
any opportunity to include explanations or status messages. For this edition, as with earlier editions, we wanted to
use Web 2.0 tools as we wrote about them. We found that having used the wiki for our previous editions, we were
able to get up and running much faster than if we had to start over without the platform.
We have been blessed with the help of our colleagues in this and in previous editions of the book. They
helped us by writing cases and reviewing the text. Our thanks continue to go out to Jonathan Trower, Espen
Andersen, Janis Gogan, Ashok Rho, Yvonne Lederer Antonucci, E. Jose Proenca, Bruce Rollier, Dave Oliver, Celia
Romm, Ed Watson, D. Guiter, S. Vaught, Kala Saravanamuthu, Ron Murch, John Greenwod, Tom Rohleder, Sam
Lubbe, Thomas Kern, Mark Dekker, Anne Rutkowski, Kathy Hurtt, Kay Nelson, Janice Sipior, Craig Tidwell, and
John Butler. Although we cannot thank them by name, we also greatly appreciate the comments of the anonymous
reviewers who have made a mark on this edition.
The book would not have been started were it not for the initial suggestion of a wonderful editor in 1999 at John
Wiley & Sons, Beth Lang Golub. Her persistence and patience helped shepherd this book through many previous
editions. We also appreciate the help of our current editor, Lise Johnson. Special thanks go to Jane Miller, Gladys
Soto, Loganathan Kandan, and the conscientious JaNoel Lowe who very patiently helped us through the revision
process. We also appreciate the help of all the staff at Wiley who have made this edition a reality.
We would be remiss if we did not also thank Lars Linden for the work he has done on the Pearlson and Saunders
Faculty Hub for this book. Our vision included a Web‐based community for discussing teaching ideas and posting current articles that supplement this text. Lars made that vision into a reality starting with the last edition and
continuing through the present. Thank you, Lars!
From Keri: Thank you to my husband, Yale, and my daughter, Hana, a business and computer science student at
Tulane University. Writing a book like this happens in the white space of our lives—the time in between everything
else going on. This edition came due at a particularly frenetic time, but they listened to ideas, made suggestions, and
celebrated the book’s completion with us. I know how lucky I am to have this family. I love you guys!
From Carol: I would like to thank the Dr. Theo and Friedl Schoeller Research Center of Business and Society for
their generous support of my research. Rusty, thank you for being my compass and my release valve. I couldn’t do
it without you. Paraphrasing the words of an Alan Jackson song (“Work in Progress”): I may not be what you want
me to be, but I’m trying really hard. Just be patient because I’m a work in progress. I love you, Kristin, Russell,
and Janel very much!
From Dennis: Thanks to my terrific family: my wife Carole, my daughters Christy and Lauren, and my granddaughter Gracie. Also thanks to Matt and Jacob, two lovable guys who take wonderful care of my daughters. Finally,
thanks to our parents and sisters’ families. We are also blessed with a large number of great, caring neighbors whom
we see quite often. I love you all, and you make it all worthwhile!
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Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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About the Authors
Dr. Keri E. Pearlson is President of KP Partners, an advisory services firm working with business leaders on issues
related to the strategic use of information systems (IS) and organizational design. She is an entrepreneur, teacher,
researcher, consultant, and thought leader. Dr. Pearlson has held various positions in academia and industry. She
has been a member of the faculty at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin where she
taught management IS courses to MBAs and executives and at Babson College where she helped design the popular
IS course for the Fast Track MBA program. Dr. Pearlson has held positions at the Harvard Business School, CSC,
nGenera (formerly the Concours Group), AT&T, and Hughes Aircraft Company. While writing this edition, she was
the Research Director for the Analytics Leadership Consortium at the International Institute of Analytics and was
named the Leader of the Year by the national Society of Information Management (SIM) 2014.
Dr. Pearlson is coauthor of Zero Time: Providing Instant Customer Value—Every Time, All the Time (John
Wiley, 2000). Her work has been published in numerous places including Sloan Management Review, Academy
of Management Executive, and Information Resources Management Journal. Many of her case studies have been
published by Harvard Business Publishing and are used all over the world. She currently writes a blog on issues at
the intersection of IT and business strategy. It’s available at www.kppartners.com.
Dr. Pearlson holds a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) in Management Information Systems from
the Harvard Business School and both a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering Management and a Bachelor’s
Degree in Applied Mathematics from Stanford University.
Dr. Carol S. Saunders is Research Professor at the W. A. Franke College of Business, Northern Arizona
University in Flagstaff, Arizona, and is a Schoeller Senior Fellow at the Friedrich‐Alexander University of
Erlangen‐Nuremberg, Germany. She served as General Conference Chair of the International Conference on
Information Systems (ICIS) in 1999 and as Program Co‐Chair of the Americas Conference of Information
Systems (AMCIS) in 2015. Dr. Saunders was the Chair of the ICIS Executive Committee in 2000. For three
years, she served as Editor‐in‐Chief of MIS Quarterly. She is currently on the editorial boards of Journal
of Strategic Information Systems and Organization Science and serves on the advisory board of Business &
Information Systems Engineering. Dr. Saunders has been recognized for her lifetime achievements by the
Association of Information Systems (AIS) with a LEO award and by the Organizational Communication and
Information Systems Division of the Academy of Management. She is a Fellow of the AIS.
Dr. Saunders’ current research interests include the impact of IS on power and communication, overload,
virtual teams, time, sourcing, and interorganizational linkages. Her research is published in a number of journals
including MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of MIS, Communications of the ACM, Journal
of Strategic Information Systems, Journal of the AIS, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management
Review, Communications Research, and Organization Science.
Dr. Dennis F. Galletta is Professor of Business Administration at the Katz Graduate School of Business,
University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. He is also the Director of the Katz School’s doctoral program and has
taught IS Management graduate courses in Harvard’s summer program each year since 2009. He obtained his
doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1985 and is a Certified Public Accountant. Dr. Galletta served as
President of the Association of Information Systems (AIS) in 2007. Like Dr. Saunders, he is both a Fellow of
the AIS and has won a LEO lifetime achievement award. He was a member of the AIS Council for five years.
He also served in leadership roles for the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS): Program
Co‐Chair in 2005 (Las Vegas) and Conference Co‐Chair in 2011 (Shanghai); as Program Co‐Chair for the
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Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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About the Authors
ix
Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) in 2003 (Tampa, Florida) and Inaugural Conference
Chair in 1995 (Pittsburgh). The Pittsburgh conference had several “firsts” for an IS conference, including the first
on‐line submissions, reviews, conference registration and payment, placement service, and storage of all papers
in advance on a website. Dr. Galletta served as ICIS Treasurer from 1994 to 1998 and Chair of the ICIS Executive Committee in 2012. He taught IS courses on the Fall 1999 Semester at Sea voyage (Institute for Shipboard
Education) and established the concept of Special Interest Groups in AIS in 2000. In 2014, he won an Emerald
Citation of Excellence for a co‐authored article that reached the top 50 in citations and ratings from the fields of
management, business, and economics.
Dr. Galletta’s current research addresses online and mobile usability and behavioral security issues such as
phishing, protection motivation, and antecedents of security‐related decision making. He has published his research
in journals such as Management Science; MIS Quarterly; Information Systems Research; Journal of MIS; European
Journal of Information Systems; Journal of the AIS; Communications of the ACM; Accounting, Management, and
Information Technologies; Data Base; and Decision Sciences and in proceedings of conferences such as ICIS,
AMCIS, and the Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences. Dr. Galletta’s editorship includes working
as current and founding Coeditor in Chief for AIS Transactions on Human‐Computer Interaction and on editorial
boards at journals such as MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of MIS, and Journal of the AIS.
He is currently on the Pre‐eminent Scholars Board of Data Base. He won a Developmental Associate Editor Award
at the MIS Quarterly in 2006. And during the off‐hours, Dr. Galletta’s fervent hobby and obsession is digital photography, often squinting through his eyepiece to make portrait, macro, Milky Way, and lightning photos when he
should be writing.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Contents
Preface
iv
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Introduction
vii
viii
1
The Case for Participating in Decisions about Information Systems 2
What If a Manager Doesn’t Participate? 5
Skills Needed to Participate Effectively in Information Technology Decisions
Basic Assumptions 8
Economics of Information versus Economics of Things 12
Social Business Lens 14
Summary 15
Key Terms 16
1 The Information Systems Strategy Triangle
17
Brief Overview of Business Strategy Frameworks 19
Business Models versus Business Strategy 21
Brief Overview of Organizational Strategies 25
Brief Overview of Information Systems Strategy 26
Social Business Lens: Building a Social Business Strategy
Summary 28
Key Terms 29
Discussion Questions 29
Case Study 1‐1 Lego 30
Case Study 1‐2 Google 31
2 Strategic Use of Information Resources
6
27
33
Evolution of Information Resources 34
Information Resources as Strategic Tools 36
How Can Information Resources Be Used Strategically? 37
Sustaining Competitive Advantage 43
Social Business Lens: Social Capital 47
Strategic Alliances 47
Risks 49
Geographic Box: Mobile‐Only Internet Users Dominate Emerging Countries
Co‐Creating IT and Business Strategy 50
50
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Contents
xi
Summary 51
Key Terms 51
Discussion Questions 51
Case Study 2‐1 Groupon 52
Case Study 2‐2 Zipcar 53
3 Organizational Strategy and Information Systems
55
Information Systems and Organizational Design 58
Social Business Lens: Social Networks 63
Information Systems and Management Control Systems 63
Information Systems and Culture 66
Geographic Lens: Does National Culture Affect Firm Investment in IS Training? 70
Summary 71
Key Terms 71
Discussion Questions 71
Case Study 3‐1 The Merger of Airtran by Southwest Airlines: Will the Organizational Cultures Merge? 72
Case Study 3‐2 The FBI 73
4 Digital Systems and the Design of Work
75
Work Design Framework 77
How Information Technology Changes the Nature of Work 78
Social Business Lens: Activity Streams 84
Where Work Is Done and Who Does It: Mobile and Virtual Work Arrangements 86
Geographic Lens: How Do People Around the World Feel About Working Remotely? 88
Geographic Lens: Who Telecommutes? A Look at Global Telecommuting Habits 89
Gaining Acceptance for IT‐Induced Change 94
Summary 96
Key Terms 97
Discussion Questions 97
Case Study 4‐1 Trash and Waste Pickup Services, Inc. 97
Case Study 4‐2 Social Networking: How Does IBM Do It? 98
5 Information Systems and Business Transformation
99
Silo Perspective versus Business Process Perspective 100
Building Agile and Dynamic Business Processes 104
Changing Business Processes 105
Workflow and Mapping Processes 107
Integration versus Standardization 109
Enterprise Systems 110
Geographic Lens: Global vs. Local ERPs 113
Social Business Lens: Crowdsourcing Changes Innovation Processes
Summary 119
Key Terms 120
118
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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xii
Contents
Discussion Questions 120
Case Study 5‐1 Santa Cruz Bicycles 121
Case Study 5‐2 Boeing 787 Dreamliner 122
6 Architecture and Infrastructure
124
From Vision to Implementation 125
The Leap from Strategy to Architecture to Infrastructure 126
From Strategy to Architecture to Infrastructure: An Example 133
Architectural Principles 135
Enterprise Architecture 136
Virtualization and Cloud Computing 137
Other Managerial Considerations 139
Social Business Lens: Building Social Mobile Applications 143
Summary 144
Key Terms 144
Discussion Questions 145
Case Study 6‐1 Enterprise Architecture at American Express 145
Case Study 6‐2 The Case of Extreme Scientists 146
7 Security
147
IT Security Decision Framework 149
Breaches and How They Occurred 151
The Impossibility of 100% Security 154
What Should Management Do? 155
Summary 162
Key Terms 163
Discussion Questions 163
Case Study 7-1 The Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS)
Case Study 7-2 Sony Pictures: The Criminals Won 164
8 The Business of Information Technology
163
165
Organizing to Respond to Business: A Maturity Model 167
Understanding the IT Organization 168
What a Manager Can Expect from the IT Organization 168
What the IT Organization Does Not Do 170
Chief Information Officer 171
Building a Business Case 173
IT Portfolio Management 175
Valuing IT Investments 176
Monitoring IT Investments 177
Funding IT Resources 182
How Much Does IT Cost? 184
Summary 187
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Contents
Key Terms 188
Discussion Questions 188
Case Study 8‐1 KLM Airlines 189
Case Study 8‐2 Balanced Scorecards at BIOCO
190
9 Governance of the Information Systems Organization
IT Governance 192
Decision‐Making Mechanisms 199
Governance Frameworks for Control Decisions 200
Social Business Lens: Governing the Content 204
Summary 205
Key Terms 205
Discussion Questions 205
Case Study 9‐1 IT Governance at University of the Southeast
Case Study 9‐2 The “MyJohnDeere” Platform 207
10 Information Systems Sourcing
191
205
208
Sourcing Decision Cycle Framework 209
Social Business Lens: Crowdsourcing 214
Geographic Lens: Corporate Social Responsibility
Outsourcing in the Broader Context 224
Summary 225
Key Terms 225
Discussion Questions 225
Case Study 10‐1 Crowdsourcing at AOL 225
Case Study 10‐2 Altia Business Park 226
11 Managing IT Projects
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220
228
What Defines a Project? 230
What Is Project Management? 231
Organizing for Project Management 232
Project Elements 233
IT Projects 239
IT Project Development Methodologies and Approaches 240
Social Business Lens: Mashups 247
Managing IT Project Risk 247
Summary 253
Key Terms 254
Discussion Questions 254
Case Study 11‐1 Implementing Enterprise Change Management at Southern Company
Case Study 11‐2 Dealing with Traffic Jams in London 255
254
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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xiv
Contents
12 Business Intelligence, Knowledge Management, and Analytics
258
Competing with Business Analytics 259
Knowledge Management, Business Intelligence, and Business Analytics 260
Data, Information, and Knowledge 261
Knowledge Management Processes 264
Business Intelligence 264
Components of Business Analytics 265
Big Data 268
Social Media Analytics 269
Social Business Lens: Personalization and Real‐Time Data Streams 271
Geographic Lens: When Two National Views of Intellectual Property Collide 272
Caveats for Managing Knowledge and Business Intelligence 274
Summary 274
Key Terms 275
Discussion Questions 275
Case Study 12‐1 Stop & Shop’s Scan It! App 275
Case Study 12‐2 Business Intelligence at CKE Restaurants 276
13 Privacy and Ethical Considerations in Information Management 278
Responsible Computing 280
Corporate Social Responsibility 283
PAPA: Privacy, Accuracy, Property, and Accessibility 284
Social Business Lens: Personal Data 289
Geographic Lens: Should Subcultures Be Taken into Account When Trying to Understand National
Attitudes Toward Information Ethics? 292
Green Computing 292
Summary 293
Key Terms 294
Discussion Questions 294
Case Study 13‐1 Ethical Decision Making 295
Case Study 13‐2 Midwest Family Mutual Goes Green 297
Glossary 299
Index 313
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Introduction
Why do managers need to understand and participate in the information systems decisions of their
organizations? After all, most corporations maintain entire departments dedicated to the management
of information systems (IS). These departments are staffed with highly skilled professionals devoted
to the field of technology. Shouldn’t managers rely on experts to analyze all the aspects of IS and
to make the best decisions for the organization? The answer to that question is an emphatic “no.”
Managing information is a critical skill for success in today’s business environment. All decisions
made by companies involve, at some level, the management and use of IS and the interpretation of
data from the business and its environment. Managers today need to know about their organization’s
capabilities and uses of information as much as they need to understand how to obtain and budget
financial resources. The ubiquity of personal devices such as smart phones, laptops, and tablets and
of access to apps within corporations and externally over the Internet, highlights this fact. Today’s
technologies form the backbone for virtually all business models. This backbone easily crosses
oceans, adding the need for a global competency to the manager’s skill set. Further, the proliferation
of supply chain partnerships and the vast amount of technology available to individuals outside of
the corporation have extended the urgent need for business managers to be involved in information
systems decisions. In addition, the availability of seemingly free (or at least very inexpensive) applications, collaboration tools, and innovation engines in the consumer arena has put powerful tools in
everyone’s hands, increasing the difficulty of ensuring that corporate systems are robust, secure, and
protected. A manager who doesn’t understand the basics of managing and using information can’t
be successful in this business environment.
The majority of U.S. adults own a smart phone and access online apps. According to the Pew
Research Center, in 2014, 90% of U.S. adults had a cell phone of some kind, and 87% of American
adults used the Internet.1 Essentially the use of these types of devices implies that individuals now
manage a “personal IS” and make decisions about usage, data, and applications. Doesn’t that give
them insight into managing information systems in corporations? Students often think they are
experts in corporate IS because of their personal experience with technology. Although there is some
truth in that perspective, it’s a very dangerous perspective for managers to take. Certainly knowing
about interesting apps, being able to use a variety of technologies for different personal purposes,
and being familiar with the ups and downs of networking for their personal information systems provide some experience that is useful in the corporate setting. But in a corporate setting, information
systems must be enterprise‐ready. They must be scalable for a large number of employees; they
must be delivered in an appropriate manner for the enterprise; they must be managed with corporate guidelines and appropriate governmental regulations in mind. Issues like security, privacy, risk,
support, and architecture take on a new meaning within an enterprise, and someone has to manage
them. Enterprise‐level management and use of information systems require a unique perspective and
a different skill set.
1
Internet Use and Cell Phone Demographics, http://www.pewinternet.org/data‐trend/internet‐use/internet‐use‐over‐time (accessed
August 18, 2015).
1
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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2
Introduction
Consider the now‐historic rise of companies such as Amazon.com, Google, and Zappos. Amazon.com began as
an online bookseller and rapidly outpaced traditional brick‐and‐mortar businesses like Barnes and Noble, Borders,
and Waterstones. Management at the traditional companies responded by having their IS support personnel build
Web sites to compete. But upstart Amazon.com moved ahead, keeping its leadership position on the Web by leveraging its business model into other marketplaces, such as music, electronics, health and beauty products, lawn and
garden products, auctions, tools and hardware, and more. It cleared the profitability hurdle by achieving a good
mix of IS and business basics: capitalizing on operational efficiencies derived from inventory software and smarter
storage, cost cutting, and effectively partnering with such companies as Toys “R” Us Inc. and Target Corporation.2
More recently, Amazon.com changed the basis of competition in another market, but this time it was the Web services business. Amazon.com Web services offers clients the extensive technology platform used for Amazon.com
but in an on‐demand fashion for developing and running the client’s own applications. Shoe retailer Zappos.com
challenged Amazon’s business model, in part by coupling a social business strategy with exemplary service and
sales. It was so successful that Amazon.com bought Zappos.
Likewise, Google built a business that is revolutionizing the way information is found. Google began in 1999
as a basic search company but its managers quickly learned that its unique business model could be leveraged
for future success in seemingly unrelated areas. The company changed the way people think about Web content
by making it available in a searchable format with an incredibly fast response time and in a host of languages.
Further, Google’s keyword‐targeted advertising program revolutionized the way companies advertise. Then Google
expanded, offering a suite of Web‐based applications, such as calendaring, office tools, e‐mail, collaboration,
shopping, and maps and then enhanced the applications further by combining them with social tools to increase
collaboration. Google Drive is one of the most popular file‐sharing tools and Gmail one of the most popular email
apps. In 2015, Google’s mission was to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and
useful.” It is offering its customers very inexpensive fiber connections. In so doing, Google further expanded into
infrastructure and on‐demand services.3
These and other online businesses are able to succeed where traditional companies have not, in part because their
management understood the power of information, IS, and the Web. These exemplary online businesses aren’t succeeding because their managers could build Web pages or assemble an IS network. Rather, the executives in these
new businesses understand the fundamentals of managing and using information and can marry that knowledge
with a sound, unique business vision to dominate their intended market spaces.
The goal of this book is to provide the foundation to help the general business manager become a knowledgeable participant in IS decisions because any IS decision in which the manager doesn’t participate can greatly affect
the organization’s ability to succeed in the future. This introduction outlines the fundamental reasons for taking the
initiative to participate in IS decisions. Moreover, because effective participation requires a unique set of managerial skills, this introduction identifies the most important ones. These skills are helpful for making both IS decisions
and all business decisions. We describe how managers should participate in the decision‐making process. Finally,
this introduction presents relevant models for understanding the nature of business and information systems. These
models provide a framework for the discussions that follow in subsequent chapters.
The Case for Participating in Decisions about Information Systems
In today’s business environment, maintaining a back‐office view of technology is certain to cost market share and
could ultimately lead to the failure of the organization. Managers who claim ignorance of IS can damage their
reputation. Technology has become entwined with all the classic functions of business—operations, marketing,
accounting, finance—to such an extent that understanding its role is necessary for making intelligent and effective decisions about any of them. Furthermore, a general understanding of key IS concepts is possible without the
extensive technological knowledge required just a few years ago. Most managers today have personal technology
2
Robert Hof, “How Amazon Cleared the Profitability Hurdle” (February 4, 2002), http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2002-02-03/how-amazoncleared-the-profitability-hurdle (accessed on October 29, 2015).
3
For more information on the latest services by these two companies, see http://aws.amazon.com/ec2 and http://www.google.com/enterprise/cloud/.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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The Case for Participating in Decisions about Information Systems
3
Reasons
IS must be managed as a critical resource since it permeates almost every aspect of business.
IS enable change in the way people work both inside and outside of the enterprise.
IS are at the heart of integrated Internet‐based solutions that are replacing standard business processes.
IS enable or inhibit business opportunities and new strategies.
IS can be used to combat business challenges from competitors.
IS enable customers to have greater pull on businesses and communities by giving them new options for voicing their
concerns and opinions using social media.
IS can support data‐driven decision making.
IS can help ensure the security of key assets.
FIGURE I-1 Reasons why business managers should participate in information systems decisions.
such as a smart phone or tablet that is more functional than many corporate‐supported personal computers provided
by enterprises just a few years ago. In fact, the proliferation of personal technologies makes everyone a “pseudo‐
expert.” Each individual must manage applications on smart phones, make decisions about applications to purchase,
and procure technical support when the systems fail. Finally, with the robust number of consumer applications
available on the Web, many decisions historically made by the IS group are increasingly being made by individuals
outside that group, sometimes to the detriment of corporate objectives.
Therefore, understanding basic fundamentals about using and managing information is worth the investment of
time. The reasons for this investment are summarized in Figure I-1 and are discussed next.
A Business View of Critical Resources
Information technology (IT) is a critical resource for today’s businesses. It both supports and consumes a significant
amount of an organization’s resources. Just like the other three major types of business resources—people, money,
and machines—it needs to be managed wisely.
IT spending represents a significant portion of corporate budgets. Worldwide IT spending topped $3.7 trillion in
2014. It is projected to continue to increase.4 A Gartner study of where this money goes groups spending into five
categories including devices (e.g., PCs, tablets, and mobile phones), data center systems (e.g., network equipment,
servers, and storage equipment), enterprise software and apps (e.g., companywide software applications), IT services (e.g., support and consulting services), and telecommunications (e.g., the expenses paid to vendors for voice
and data services).
Resources must return value, or they will be invested elsewhere. The business manager, not the IS specialist,
decides which activities receive funding, estimates the risk associated with the investment, and develops metrics
for evaluating the investment’s performance. Therefore, the business manager needs a basic grounding in managing
and using information. On the flip side, IS managers need a business view to be able to explain how technology
impacts the business and what its trade‐offs are.
People and Technology Work Together
In addition to financial issues, managers must know how to mesh technology and people to create effective work
processes. Collaboration is increasingly common, especially with the rise of social networking. Companies are
reaching out to individual customers using social technologies such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Renren, YouTube,
and numerous other tools. In fact, Web 2.0 describes the use of the World Wide Web applications that incorporate
information sharing, user‐centered design, interoperability, and collaboration among users. Technology facilitates
4
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2959717/ (accessed March 5, 2015).
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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4
Introduction
the work that people do and the way they interact with each other. Appropriately incorporating IS into the design
of a business model enables managers to focus their time and resources on issues that bear directly on customer
satisfaction and other revenue‐ and profit‐generating activities.
Adding a new IS to an existing organization, however, requires the ability to manage change. Skilled business
managers must balance the benefits of introducing new technology with the costs associated with changing the
existing behaviors of people in the workplace. There are many choices of technology solutions, each with a different
impact. Managers’ decisions must incorporate a clear understanding of the consequences. Making this assessment
doesn’t require detailed technical knowledge. It does require an understanding of short‐term and long‐term consequences risk mitigation, and why adopting new technology may be more appropriate in some instances than in
others. Understanding these issues also helps managers know when it may prove effective to replace people with
technology at certain steps in a process.
Integrating Business with Information Systems
IS are integrated with almost every aspect of business and have been for quite some time. For example, the CTO of
@WalmartLabs, Jeremy King, wrote in a blog,
There used to be a big distinction between tech companies: those that develop enterprise technology for businesses,
and the global companies that depend on those products. But that distinction is now diminishing for this simple reason:
every global company is becoming a tech company. . . . we’re seeing technology as a critical component for business
success.5
Walmart built platforms to support all of its ecommerce and digital shopping experiences around the world.
Walmart’s teams created a new search engine to enable engaging and efficient ways for on‐line customers to find
items in inventory. IS placed information in the hands of Walmart associates so that decisions could be made closer
to the customer. IS simplified organizational activities and processes such as moving goods, stocking shelves, and
communicating with suppliers. For example, handheld scanners provide floor associates with immediate and real‐
time access to inventory in their store and the ability to locate items in surrounding stores, if necessary.
Opportunities and New Strategies Derived from Rapid Changes in Technology
The proliferation of new technologies creates a business environment filled with opportunities. The rate of adoption of these new technologies has increased due in part to the changing demographics of the workforce and the
integration of “digital natives,” individuals whose entire lives have been lived in an era with Internet availability.
Therefore digital natives are completely fluent in the use of personal technologies and the Web. Even today, innovative uses of the Internet produce new types of online businesses that keep every manager and executive on alert.
New business opportunities spring up with little advance warning. The manager’s role is to frame these opportunities so that others can understand them, evaluate them against existing business needs and choices, and then
pursue those that fit with an articulated business strategy. The quality of the information at hand affects the quality
of both decisions and their implementation. Managers must develop an understanding of what information is crucial to the decisions, how to get it, and how to use it. They must lead the changes driven by IS.
Competitive Challenges
Competitors come from both expected and unexpected places. General managers are in the best position to see the
emerging threats and utilize IS effectively to combat ever‐changing competitive challenges. Further, general managers are often called on to demonstrate a clear understanding of how their own technology programs and products
5
Jeremy King, “Why Every Company Is a Tech Company” (November 21, 2013), http://www.walmartlabs.com/2013/11/21/why‐every‐company‐is‐a‐
tech‐company‐by‐jeremy‐king‐cto‐of‐walmartlabs (accessed August 18, 2015).
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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What If a Manager Doesn’t Participate?
5
compare with those of their competitors. A deep understanding of the capabilities of the organization coupled with
existing IS can create competitive advantages and change the competitive landscape for the entire industry.
Customer Pull
With the emergence of social networks like Facebook, microblogs like Twitter, and other Web applications like
Yelp, businesses have had to redesign their existing business models to account for the change in power now
wielded by customers and others in their communities. Social media and other web apps have given powerful
voices to customers and communities, and businesses must listen. Redesigning the customer experience when interacting with a company is paramount for many managers and the key driver is IS. Social IT enables new and often
deeper relationships with a large number of customers, and companies are learning how to integrate and leverage
this capability into existing and new business models.
Data‐Driven Decision Making
Managers are increasingly using evidence‐based management to make decisions based on data gathered from
experiments, internal files, and other relevant sources. Data‐driven decision making, based on new techniques for
analytics, data management, and business intelligence, has taken on increased importance. Social media have created a rich stream of real‐time data that gives managers increased insights to the impact of decisions much faster
than traditional systems. Mid‐course corrections are much easier to make. Predictive and prescriptive analytics give
suggestions that are eerily close to what happens. Big data stores can be mined for insights that were unavailable
with traditional IS, creating competitive advantage for companies with the right tools and techniques.
Securing Key Assets
As the use of the Internet grows, so does the opportunity for new and unforeseen threats to company assets. Taking
measures to ensure the security of these assets is increasingly important. But decisions about security measures
also impact the way IS can be used. It’s possible to put so much security around IT assets that they are locked down
in a manner that gets in the way of business. At the same time, too little security opens up the possibility of theft,
hacking, phishing, and other Web‐based mischief that can disrupt business. Managers must be involved in decisions
about risk and security to ensure that business operations are in sync with the resulting security measures.
What If a Manager Doesn’t Participate?
Decisions about IS directly affect the profits of a business. The basic formula Profit = Revenue − Expenses can
be used to evaluate the impact of these decisions. Adopting the wrong technologies can cause a company to miss
business opportunities and any revenues those opportunities would generate. For example, inadequate IS can cause
a breakdown in servicing customers, which hurts sales. Poorly deployed social IT resources can badly damage
the reputation of a strong brand. On the expense side, a miscalculated investment in technology can lead to overspending and excess capacity or underspending and restricted opportunity. Inefficient business processes sustained
by ill‐fitting IS also increase expenses. Lags in implementation or poor process adaptation reduces profits and therefore growth. IS decisions can dramatically affect the bottom line.
Failure to consider IS strategy when planning business strategy and organizational strategy leads to one of three
business consequences: (1) IS that fail to support business goals, (2) IS that fail to support organizational systems,
and (3) a misalignment between business goals and organizational capabilities. These consequences are discussed
briefly in the following section and in more detail in later chapters. The driving questions to consider are the potential effects on an organization’s ability to achieve its business goals. How will the consequences impact the way
people work? Will the organization still be able to implement its business strategy?
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6
Introduction
Information Systems Must Support Business Goals
IS represent a major investment for any firm in today’s business environment. Yet poorly chosen IS can actually
become an obstacle to achieving business goals. The results can be disastrous if the systems do not allow the organization to realize its goals. When IS lack the capacity needed to collect, store, and transfer critical information for
the business, decisions can be impacted and options limited. Customers will be dissatisfied or even lost. Production
costs may be excessive. Worst of all, management may not be able to pursue desired business directions that are
blocked by inappropriate IS. Victoria’s Secret experienced this problem when a Superbowl ad promoting an online
fashion show generated so many inquiries to its Web site that the Web site crashed. Spending large amounts of
money on the advertisement was wasted when potential customers could not access the site. Likewise, Toys “R”
Us experienced a similar calamity when its well‐publicized Web site was unable to process and fulfill orders fast
enough one holiday season. It not only lost those customers, but it also had a major customer‐relations issue to
manage as a result.
Information Systems Must Support Organizational Systems
Organizational systems represent the fundamental elements of a business—its people, work processes, tasks, structure, and control systems—and the plan that enables them to work efficiently to achieve business goals. If the
company’s IS fail to support its organizational systems, the result is a misalignment of the resources needed to
achieve its goals. For example, it seems odd to think that a manager might add functionality to a corporate Web
site without providing the training the employees need to use the tool effectively. Yet, this mistake—and many
more costly ones—occurs in businesses every day. Managers make major IS decisions without informing all the
staff of resulting changes in their daily work. For example, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system often
dictates how many business processes are executed and the organizational systems must change to reflect the new
processes. Deploying technology without thinking through how it actually will be used in the organization—who
will use it, how they will use it, and how to make sure the applications chosen will actually accomplish what is
intended—results in significant expense. In another example, a company may decide to block access to the Internet,
thinking that it is prohibiting employees from accessing offensive or unsecure sites. But that decision also means
that employees can’t access social networking sites that may be useful for collaboration or other Web‐based applications that may offer functionality to make the business more efficient.
The general manager, who, after all, is charged with ensuring that company resources are used effectively,
must guarantee that the company’s IS support its organizational systems and that changes made in one system are
reflected in the other. For example, a company that plans to allow employees to work remotely needs an information
system strategy compatible with its organizational strategy. Desktop PCs located within the corporate office aren’t
the right solution for a telecommuting organization. Instead, laptop computers or tablets with applications that are
accessible online anywhere and anytime and networks that facilitate information sharing are needed. Employees
may want to use tablets or smart phones remotely, too, and those entail a different set of IS processes. If the organization allows the purchase of only desktop PCs and builds systems accessible from desks within the office, the
telecommuting program is doomed to failure.
Skills Needed to Participate Effectively in Information
Technology Decisions
Participating in IT decisions means bringing a clear set of skills to the table. All managers are asked to take on
tasks that require different skills at different times. Those tasks can be divided into three types: visionary tasks, or
those that provide leadership and direction for the group; informational/interpersonal tasks, or those that provide
information and knowledge the group needs to be successful; and structural tasks, those that organize the group.
Figure I-2 lists basic skills required of managers who wish to participate successfully in key IT decisions. Not only
does this list emphasize understanding, organizing, planning, and solving the business needs of the organization,
but also it is an excellent checklist for all managers’ professional growth.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Skills Needed to Participate Effectively in Information Technology Decisions
Managerial Role
Skills
Visionary
Creativity
7
Curiosity
Confidence
Focus on business solutions
Flexibility
Informational and Interpersonal
Communication
Listening
Information gathering
Interpersonal skills
Structural
Project management
Analytical
Organizational
Planning
Leading
Controlling
FIGURE I-2 Skills for successful IT use by managerial role.
These skills may not look much different from those required of any successful manager, which is the main
point of this book: General managers can be successful participants in IS decisions without an extensive technical
background. General managers who understand a basic set of IS concepts and who have outstanding managerial
skills, such as those listed in Figure I-2, are ready for the digital economy.
How to Participate in Information Systems Decisions
Technical wizardry isn’t required to become a knowledgeable participant in the IS decisions of a business. Managers need curiosity, creativity, and the confidence to ask questions in order to learn and understand. A solid framework that identifies key management issues and relates them to aspects of IS provides the background needed to
participate in business IS decisions.
The goal of this book is to provide that framework. The way in which managers use and manage information is
directly linked to business goals and the business strategy driving both organizational and IS decisions. Aligning
business and IS decisions is critical. Business, organizational, and information strategies are fundamentally linked
in what is called the Information Systems Strategy Triangle, discussed in the next chapter. Failing to understand this
relationship is detrimental to a business. Failing to plan for the consequences in all three areas can cost a manager
his or her job. This book provides a foundation for understanding business issues related to IS from a managerial
perspective.
Organization of the Book
To be knowledgeable participants, managers must know about both using and managing information. The first
five chapters offer basic frameworks to make this understanding easier. Chapter 1 uses the Information Systems
Strategy Triangle framework to discuss alignment of IS and the business. This chapter also provides a brief overview of relevant frameworks for business strategy and organizational strategy. It is provided as background for
those who have not formally studied organization theory or business strategy. For those who have studied these
areas, this chapter is a brief refresher of major concepts used throughout the remaining chapters of the book.
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8
Introduction
Subsequent chapters provide frameworks and sets of examples for understanding the links between IS and business
strategy (Chapter 2), links between IS and organizational strategy (Chapter 3), collaboration and individual work
(Chapter 4), and business processes (Chapter 5).
The rest of the text covers issues related to the business manager’s role in managing IS itself. These chapters
are the building blocks of an IS strategy. Chapter 6 provides a framework for understanding the four components
of IS architecture: hardware, software, networks, and data. Chapter 7 discusses how managers might participate in
decisions about IS security. Chapter 8 focuses on the business of IT with a look at IS organization, funding models,
portfolios, and monitoring options. Chapter 9 describes the governance of IS resources. Chapter 10 explores sourcing and how companies provision IS resources. Chapter 11 focuses on project and change management. Chapter 12
concerns business intelligence, knowledge management, and analytics and provides an overview of how companies
manage knowledge and create a competitive advantage using business analytics. And finally, Chapter 13 discusses
the ethical use of information and privacy.
Basic Assumptions
Every book is based on certain assumptions, and understanding those assumptions makes a difference in interpreting the text. The first assumption made by this text is that managers must be knowledgeable participants in the IS
decisions made within and affecting their organizations. That means that the general manager must develop a basic
understanding of the business and technology issues related to IS. Because technology changes rapidly, this text
also assumes that today’s technology is different from yesterday’s technology. In fact, the technology available
to readers of this text today might even differ significantly from that available when the text was being written.
Therefore, this text focuses on generic concepts that are, to the extent possible, technology independent. It provides
frameworks on which to hang more up‐to‐the‐minute technological evolutions and revolutions, such as new uses of
the Web, new social tools, or new cloud‐based services. We assume that the reader will supplement the discussions
of this text with current case studies and up‐to‐date information about the latest technology.
A second, perhaps controversial, assumption is that the roles of a general manager and of an IS manager require
different skill sets and levels of technical competency. General managers must have a basic understanding of IS in
order to be a knowledgeable participant in business decisions. Without that level of understanding, their decisions
may have serious negative implications for the business. On the other hand, IS managers must have more in‐depth
knowledge of technology so they can partner with general managers who will use the IS. As digital natives take on
increasingly more managerial roles in corporations, this second assumption may change—all managers may need
deeper technical understanding. But for this text, we assume a different, more technical skill set for the IS manager
and we do not attempt to provide that here.
Assumptions about Management
Although many books have been written describing the activities of managers, organizational theorist Henry
Mintzberg offers a view that works especially well with a perspective relevant to IS management. Mintzberg’s
model describes management in behavioral terms by categorizing the three major roles a manager fills: interpersonal, informational, and decisional (see Figure I-3). This model is useful because it considers the chaotic nature of
the environment in which managers actually work. Managers rarely have time to be reflective in their approaches
to problems. They work at an unrelenting pace, and their activities are brief and often interrupted. Thus, quality
information becomes even more crucial to effective decision making. The classic view is often seen as a tactical
approach to management, whereas some describe Mintzberg’s view as more strategic.
Assumptions about Business
Everyone has an internal understanding of what constitutes a business, which is based on readings and experiences with different firms. This understanding forms a model that provides the basis for comprehending actions,
interpreting decisions, and communicating ideas. Managers use their internal model to make sense of otherwise
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Basic Assumptions
9
Type of Roles
Manager’s Roles
IS Examples
Interpersonal
Figurehead
CIO greets touring dignitaries.
Leader
IS manager puts in long hours to help motivate project team to complete
project on schedule in an environment of heavy budget cuts.
Liaison
CIO works with the marketing and human resource vice presidents to
make sure that the reward and compensation system is changed to
encourage use of the new IS supporting sales.
Monitor
Division manager compares progress on IS project for the division with
milestones developed during the project’s initiation and feasibility phase.
Disseminator
CIO conveys organization’s business strategy to IS department and
demonstrates how IS strategy supports the business strategy.
Spokesperson
IS manager represents IS department at organization’s recruiting fair.
Entrepreneur
IS division manager suggests an application of a new technology that
improves the division’s operational efficiency.
Disturbance handler
IS division manager, as project team leader, helps resolve design
disagreements between division personnel who will be using the system
and systems analysts who are designing it.
Resource allocator
CIO allocates additional personnel positions to various departments
based upon the business strategy.
Negotiator
IS manager negotiates for additional personnel needed to respond to
recent user requests for enhanced functionality in a system that is being
implemented.
Informational
Decisional
FIGURE I-3 Managers’ roles.
Source: Adapted from H. Mintzberg, The Nature of Managerial Work (New York: Harper & Row, 1973).
chaotic and random activities. This book uses several conceptual models of business. Some take a functional view
and others take a process view.
Functional View
The classical view of a business is based on the functions that people perform, such as accounting, finance,
marketing, operations, and human resources. The business organizes around these functions to coordinate them and
to gain economies of scale within specialized sets of tasks. Information first flows vertically up and down between
line positions and management; after analysis, it may be transmitted across other functions for use elsewhere in the
company (see Figure I-4).
Process View
Michael Porter of Harvard Business School describes a business in terms of the primary and support activities that
are performed to create, deliver, and support a product or service. The primary activities are not limited to specific
functions, but rather are cross‐functional processes (see Figure I-5). For example, an accounts payable process
Support
Sales
Marketing
Operations
Accounting
Information flows
Executive Management
FIGURE I-4 Hierarchical view of the firm.
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10
Introduction
Executive Management
Product Development Process
Support
Sales
Marketing
Operations
Accounting
Accounts Payable Process
Order Fulfillment Process
Information Flows
FIGURE I-5 Process view of the firm: Cross‐functional processes.
might involve steps taken by other departments that generate obligations, which the accounting department pays.
Likewise, the product creation process might begin with an idea from R&D, which is transferred to an operations
organization that builds the actual product and involves marketing to get the word out, sales to sell and deliver the
product, and support to provide customer assistance as needed. This view takes into account the activities in each
functional area that are needed to complete a process, and any organization can be described by the processes it
performs. Improving coordination among activities increases business profit. Organizations that effectively manage
core processes across functional boundaries are often the industry leaders because they have made efficiencies that
are not visible from the functional viewpoint. IS are often the key to process improvement and cross‐functional
coordination.
Both the process and functional views are important to understanding IS. The functional view is useful when similar activities must be explained, coordinated, executed, or communicated. For example, understanding a marketing
information system means understanding the functional approach to business in general and the marketing function
in particular. The process view, on the other hand, is useful when examining the flow of information throughout a
business. For example, understanding the information associated with order fulfillment, product development, or
customer service means taking a process view of the business. This text assumes that both views are important for
participating in IS decisions.
Assumptions about Information Systems
Consider the components of an information system from the manager’s viewpoint rather than from the technologist’s viewpoint. Both the nature of information (hierarchy and economics) and the context of an information
system must be examined to understand the basic assumptions of this text.
Information Hierarchy
The terms data, information, and knowledge are often used interchangeably, but have significant and discrete meanings within the knowledge management domain (and are more fully explored in Chapter 12). Tom Davenport, in his
book Information Ecology, pointed out that getting everyone in any given organization to agree on common definitions is difficult. However, his work (summarized in Figure I-6) provides a nice starting point for understanding
the subtle but important differences.
The information hierarchy begins with data, or simple observations; data are sets of specific, objective facts or
observations, such as “inventory contains 45 units.” Standing alone, such facts have no intrinsic meaning but can be
easily captured, transmitted, and stored electronically.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Basic Assumptions
11
Data
Information
Knowledge
Definition
Simple observations of the state
of the world
Data endowed with
relevance and purpose
Information from the human mind
(includes reflection, synthesis,
context)
Characteristics
•
•
•
•
•
• Requires unit of analysis
• Data that have been
processed
• Human mediation
necessary
•
•
•
•
Example
Daily inventory report of all
inventory items sent to the
CEO of a large manufacturing
company
Daily inventory report
of items that are below
economic order quantity
levels sent to inventory
manager
Inventory manager’s knowledge of
which items need to be reordered
in light of daily inventory report,
anticipated labor strikes, and
a flood in Brazil that affects the
supply of a major component
Easily structured
Easily captured on machines
Often quantified
Easily transferred
Mere facts
Hard to structure
Difficult to capture on machines
Often tacit
Hard to transfer
FIGURE I-6 Comparison of data, information, and knowledge.
Source: Adapted from Thomas Davenport, Information Ecology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
Information is data endowed with relevance and purpose.6 People turn data into information by organizing data
into some unit of analysis (e.g., dollars, dates, or customers). For example, a mashup of location data and housing
prices adds something beyond what the data provide individually, and that makes it information. A mashup is the
term used for applications that combine data from different sources to create a new application on the Web.
To be relevant and have a purpose, information must be considered within the context in which it is received
and used. Because of differences in context, information needs vary across functions and hierarchical levels. For
example, when considering functional differences related to a sales transaction, a marketing department manager
may be interested in the demographic characteristics of buyers, such as their age, gender, and home address. A manager in the accounting department probably won’t be interested in any of these details, but instead wants to know
details about the transaction itself, such as method of payment and date of payment.
Similarly, information needs may vary across hierarchical levels. These needs are summarized in Figure I-7
and reflect the different activities performed at each level. At the supervisory level, activities are narrow in scope
and focused on the production or the execution of the business’s basic transactions. At this level, information is
focused on day‐to‐day activities that are internally oriented and accurately defined in a detailed manner. The activities of senior management are much broader in scope. Senior management performs long‐term planning and needs
Top Management
Middle Management
Supervisory and Lower‐Level
Management
Time Horizon
Long: years
Medium: weeks, months, years
Short: day to day
Level of Detail
Highly aggregated
Less accurate
More predictive
Summarized
Integrated
Often financial
Very detailed
Very accurate
Often nonfinancial
Source
Primarily external
Primarily internal with limited
external
Internal
Decision
Extremely judgmental
Uses creativity and analytical
skills
Relatively judgmental
Heavily reliant on rules
FIGURE I-7 Information characteristics across hierarchical levels.
Source: G. Adapted from Anthony Gorry and Michael S. Scott Morton, “A Framework for Management Information Systems,”
Sloan Management Review 13, no. 1, 55–70.
6
Peter F. Drucker, “The Coming of the New Organization,” Harvard Business Review (January–February 1988), 45–53.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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12
Introduction
information that is aggregated, externally oriented, and more subjective than supervisors require. The information
needs of middle managers in terms of these characteristics fall between the needs of supervisors and of senior
management. Because information needs vary across levels, a daily inventory report of a large manufacturing firm
may serve as information for a low‐level inventory manager whereas the CEO would consider such a report to be
merely data. The context in which the report is used must be considered in determining whether it is information.
Knowledge is information that is synthesized and contextualized to provide value. It is information with the
most value. Knowledge consists of a mix of contextual information, values, experiences, and rules. For example,
the mashup of locations and housing prices means one thing to a real estate agent, another thing to a potential buyer,
and yet something else to an economist. It is richer and deeper than information and more valuable because someone
thought deeply about that information and added his or her own unique experience and judgment. Knowledge also
involves the synthesis of multiple sources of information over time.7 The amount of human contribution increases
along the continuum from data to information to knowledge. Computers work well for managing data but are less
efficient at managing information and knowledge.
Some people think there is a fourth level in the information hierarchy: wisdom. Wisdom is knowledge fused
with intuition and judgment that facilitates the ability to make decisions. Wisdom is that level of the information
hierarchy used by subject matter experts, gurus, and individuals with a high degree of experience who seem to “just
know” what to do and how to apply the knowledge they gain. This is consistent with Aristotle’s view of wisdom as
the ability to balance different and conflicting elements together in ways that are only learned through experience.
Economics of Information versus Economics of Things
In their groundbreaking book, Blown to Bits, Evans and Wurster argued that every business is in the information
business.8 Even those businesses not typically considered information businesses have business strategies in which
information plays a critical role. The physical world of manufacturing is shaped by information that dominates
products as well as processes. For example, an automobile contains as much computing power as a personal computer. Information‐intensive processes in the manufacturing and marketing of the automobile include design,
market research, logistics, advertising, and inventory management. The automobile itself, with its millions of lines
of code, has become a computer on wheels with specialized computers and sensors alerting the driver of its health
and road conditions. When taken in for service, maintenance crews simply plug an electronic monitor into the automobile to analyze and identify worn parts or other areas in need of upgrades and repair.
As our world is reshaped by information‐intensive industries, it becomes even more important for business strategies to differentiate the timeworn economics of things from the evolving economics of information. Things wear
out; things can be replicated at the expense of the manufacturer; things exist in a tangible location. When sold, the
seller no longer owns the thing. The price of a thing is typically based on production costs. In contrast, information
never wears out, although it can become obsolete or untrue. Information can be replicated at virtually no cost
without limit; information exists in the ether. When sold, the seller still retains the information, but this ownership
provides little value if the ability of others to copy it is not limited. Finally, information is often costly to produce
but cheap to reproduce. Rather than pricing it to recover the sunk cost of its initial production, its price is typically
based on its value to the consumer. Figure I-8 summarizes the major differences between the economics of goods
and the economics of information.
Evans and Wurster suggest that traditionally the economics of information has been bundled with the economics
of things. However, in this Information Age, firms are vulnerable if they do not separate the two. The Encyclopedia
Britannica story serves as an example. Bundling the economics of things with the economics of information made
it difficult for Encyclopedia Britannica to gauge two serious threats. The first threat was posed by Encarta, an entire
encyclopedia on a CD‐ROM that was given away to promote the sale of computers and peripherals. The second
was Wikipedia, which is freely available to all and updated on a nearly real‐time basis continuously by thousands of
7
8
Thomas H. Davenport, Information Ecology (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 9–10.
Philip Evans and Thomas Wurster, Blown to Bits (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2000).
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Economics of Information versus Economics of Things
Things
Information
Wear out
Doesn’t wear out but can become obsolete or untrue
Are replicated at the expense of the manufacturer
Is replicated at almost zero cost without limit
Exist in a tangible location
Does not physically exist
When sold, possession changes hands
When sold, seller may still possess and sell again
Price based on production costs
Price based on value to consumer
13
FIGURE I-8 Comparison of the economics of things with the economics of information.
volunteers; currently Wikipedia reports that it holds over 4.9 million articles, receives 10 edits per second globally,
and boasts 750 new pages added each day.9 In contrast, Encyclopedia Britannica published volumes every several
years and the price was between $1,500 and $2,200, covering printing and binding ($250) and sales commissions
($500 to $600).10
Britannica focused on its centuries‐old tradition of providing information in richly bound tomes sold to the public
through a well‐trained sales force. Only when it was threatened with its very survival did Encyclopedia Britannica
grasp the need to separate the economics of information from economics of things and sell bits of information
online. Clearly, Encyclopedia Britannica’s business strategy, like that of many other companies, needed to reflect
the difference between the economics of things from the economics of information.
Internet of Things
More recently, a new concept has emerged to describe the explosive growth in the data generated by sensors
traveling over the Web. The Internet of things (IoT) is the term used to refer to machines and sensors talking to
each other over the network, taking Evans and Wurster’s concepts even further. Although the term IoT was coined
in1999,11 it was not widely discussed until the current decade. The earliest example of its functions was reported
before the Internet even existed—in a Coke machine at Carnegie Mellon University in the mid‐1970s. Staff members and students in the Computer Science Department were able to use a network connecting a minicomputer
and sensors in the machine to monitor not only the machine’s inventory but even which button to push for the
coldest bottles.12
A more broadly used early application of IoT was provided by Otis Elevator in the late 1980s and later copied
by most other elevator companies.13 Sensors in elevators send alerts over a network to a service center’s computer
when parts need replacing, and service technicians arrive without the builder owner knowing about the potential
problem. Extending IoT even further, today’s elevator systems alert handheld devices of nearby repair technicians
who then visit the elevator to make the repair. Devices may connect to the Internet over a wireless connection or
through a hard‐wired connection.
Many say that we are on the brink of a new revolution that will be as impactful as the popularization of the
World‐Wide Web. The IoT has already been applied to large number of “things”—extending to home appliances,
automobiles, thermostats, lighting, pets, and even people.14 Many people can already perform futuristic functions
using smartphone apps. They can remotely check the status of their heart monitor, tire pressure, or subway train’s
location. They can locate a lost pet or valuable object. They can reset their thermostat, turn off lights, and record a
program on their DVR even after having left for vacation.
9
Wikipedia Statistics, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Statistics (accessed August 18, 2015).
Evans and Wurster, Blown to Bits.
11
K. Ashton, “That ‘Internet of Things’ Thing,” RFID Journal (June 22, 2009), http://www.rfidjournal.com/articles/view?4986 (accessed May 26, 2015).
12
Attributed to The Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Department Coke Machine, “The ‘Only’ Coke Machine on the Internet,” https://www.
cs.cmu.edu/~coke/history_long.txt (accessed May 26, 2015).
13
D. Freedman, “The Myth of Strategic IS,” CIO Magazine (July 1991), 42–48.
14
Internet of Things, Whatis.com, http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/Internet‐of‐Things (accessed May 26, 2015).
10
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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14
Introduction
Social Business Lens
The explosion of consumer‐based technologies, coupled with applications such as Facebook, Renren, Sina
Weibo, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Foursquare, Skype, Pinterest, and more have brought into focus the concept of
a social business. Some call this trend the consumerization of technology. Consumerization means that technologies such as social tools, mobile phones, and Web applications targeted at individual, personal users are creating pressures for companies in new and unexpected ways. At the same time, technologies initially intended for
the corporation, like cloud computing, are being retooled and “consumerized” to appeal to individuals outside
the corporation.
In this text, we use the term social business to refer to an enterprise using social IT for business applications,
activities and processes. We sometimes say that a social business has infused social capabilities into business
processes.
Social business is permeating every facet of business. There are new business models based on a social IT
platform that offer new ways of connecting with stakeholders in functions such as governing, collaborating, doing
work, and measuring results. In this book, we are particular about the terminology we use. Social IT is the term we
use for all technologies in this space. We define social IT as the technologies used for people to collaborate, network, and interact over the Web. These include social networks and other applications that provide for interaction
between people.
Many use the term social media as an overarching term for this space, but increasingly, social media refers to
the marketing and sales applications of social IT, and we use it that way. Social networks are a specific type of tool,
like Facebook, Ning, and similar tools. Social networking is the use of these types of social IT tools in a community.
As of the writing of this text, the social space is still like the Wild West; there are no widely accepted conventions
about the terms and their meanings or the uses and their impacts. But we have enough experience with social
IT that we know it’s a major force bursting on to the enterprise scene and it must be addressed in discussions of
managing and using information systems.
Look in chapters for the feature “Social Business Lens” where we explore one topic related to that chapter from
a social business perspective.
The reader might already be using the IoT with one or more of these apps. However, vendors tell us we “ain’t
seen nothing yet.” The potential impact of IoT is limited by the number of objects connected and apps available to
monitor and control them. As the number of devices directly connected to the Internet increases, researchers and IT
Management
Information Systems
People
FIGURE I-9
Technology
Process
System hierarchy.
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Summary
15
professionals expect an exponential increase in IoT functionality and usage.15 In the coming years, Internet traffic
will dramatically increase along with an explosion in the amount of information generated by these devices.
System Hierarchy
Information systems are composed of three main elements: technology, people, and process (see Figure I-9). When
most people use the term information system, they actually refer only to the technology element as defined by the
organization’s infrastructure. In this text, the term infrastructure refers to everything that supports the flow and
processing of information in an organization, including hardware, software, data, and network components whereas
architecture refers to the blueprint that reflects strategy implicit in combining these components. Information systems (IS) are defined more broadly as the combination of technology (the “what”), people (the “who”), and process
(the “how”) that an organization uses to produce and manage information. In contrast, information technology (IT)
focuses only on the technical devices and tools used in the system. We define information technology as all forms
of technology used to create, store, exchange, and use information. Many people use the terms IS and IT interchangeably. In recent years, “IT” has been more fashionable, but that changes as fashions change.
SUMMARY
Aligning information systems and business decisions is no longer an option; it’s an imperative for business. Every business operates as an information‐based enterprise. In addition, the explosive growth of smart phones, tablets, social tools, and Web‐based
businesses provides all managers with some experience in information systems and some idea of the complexity involved in
providing enterprise‐level systems. This highlights the need for all managers to be skilled in managing and using IS.
It is no longer acceptable to delegate IS decisions to the management information systems (MIS) department alone. The
general manager must be involved to both execute business plans and protect options for future business vision. IS and business
maturity must be aligned to provide the right level of information resources to the business.
This chapter makes the case for general managers’ full participation in strategic business decisions concerning IS. It outlines the skills required for such participation, and it makes explicit certain key assumptions about the nature of business,
management, and IS that will underlie the remaining discussions. Subsequent chapters are designed to build on these concepts
by addressing the following questions.
Frameworks and Foundations
• How should information strategy be aligned with business and organizational strategies? (Chapter 1)
• How can a business achieve competitive advantages using its IS? (Chapter 2)
• How do organizational decisions impact IS decisions? (Chapter 3)
• How is the work of the individual in an organization affected by decisions concerning IS? (Chapter 4)
• How are information systems integrated with business processes? (Chapter 5)
IS Management Issues
• What are the components of an IS architecture? (Chapter 6)
• How are IS kept secure? (Chapter 7)
• How is the IT organization managed and funded? (Chapter 8)
• How are IS decisions made? (Chapter 9)
• What source should provide IS services and how and where should they be provided? (Chapter 10)
15
Jared Newman, “Right Now, the Internet of Things Is Like the Internet of the 1990s,” Fast Company (March 27, 2015I, http://www.fastcompany.
com/3044375/sector‐forecasting/the‐future‐of‐the‐internet‐of‐things‐is‐like‐the‐internet‐of‐the‐1990s (last accessed May 26, 2015).
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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16
Introduction
• How are IS projects managed and risks from change management mitigated? (Chapter 11)
• How is business intelligence managed within an organization? (Chapter 12)
• What ethical and moral considerations bind the uses of information in business? (Chapter 13)
KEY TERMS
architecture (p. 14)
data (p. 10)
digital natives (p. 4)
information (p. 11)
information system (p. 14)
information technology (p. 14)
infrastructure (p. 14)
internet of things (p. 13)
knowledge (p. 12)
mashup (p. 11)
social business (p. 15)
social IT (p. 15)
social media (p. 15)
social networking (p. 15)
Web 2.0 (p. 3)
wisdom (p. 12)
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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The Information Systems
Strategy Triangle
chapter
1
The Information Systems Strategy Triangle highlights the alignment necessary between
decisions regarding business strategy, information systems, and organizational design.
This chapter reviews models of business strategy, organizational strategy and design, and
information systems strategy. It concludes with a simple framework for creating a social
business strategy.
In February 2015,1 health care giant Kaiser Permanente named Dick Daniels to the CIO position and
the leadership team for the next stage of the company’s business strategy: to provide better health care
at lower costs. To achieve those goals, Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation’s largest not‐for‐profit
health care systems with over 9.5 million members and 2014 operating revenue of $56.4 billion,
invested in numerous information systems projects aimed at streamlining operations, offering new
services, and meeting government obligations. For example, in 2014, 13% of all the medical appointments were fulfilled digitally—through e‐mail—to the delight of patients who did not have to make
a trip to the doctor’s office and to the delight of doctors who were able to check in on their patients,
particularly those with chronic conditions, more frequently. Doctors particularly liked this because
their annual bonuses were based, in part, on improvements in patient health metrics such as lower
blood pressure, reduced blood sugar levels if at risk for diabetes, and improvement in cholesterol
scores rather than on the number of tests they ordered or the total billing they brought in. The organization invested heavily in video conferencing technology, mobile apps, and analytics as they finished
implementing a $4 billion electronic health records system, KP HealthConnect.
KP HealthConnect began in 2003, but by 2008, all members had online access to their health
records; by 2010, all system services were available at all medical offices and hospitals in the system;
and by 2012, all members had access to their health records on mobile devices. Kaiser Permanente
has been a regular innovator in the use of technologies, being one of the first health care organizations to experiment with chat rooms, secure messaging, and private e‐mail correspondence between
patients, physicians, and care providers. The new system connects each member to all caregivers and
services available at Kaiser Permanente. Further, it enabled patients to participate in the health care
they received at a new level and access information directly from the system.
The organizational design supported the business strategy of better health care at lower costs.2
At the core of this strategy was a shift from a “fix‐me system” with which patients seek health care
when something is broken and needs repair to a system that was truly proactive and focused on promoting health. Under the “fix‐me system,” health care was expensive and often sought too late to
1
http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/02/09/kaiser‐permanente‐names‐richard‐dick‐daniels‐cio/; http://fortune.com/2015/04/29/kaiser‐
ceo‐on‐healthcare/; http://fortune.com/2014/07/24/a‐health‐care‐model‐thats‐working/; Paul Gray, Omar Sawy, Guillermo Asper,
and Magnus Thordarson, “Realizing Strategic Value Through Center‐Edge Digital Transformation in Consumer‐Centric Industries,”
MIS Quarterly Executive 12, no. 1 (March 2013).
2
Note that the organizational design puts the organizational strategy into practice. For instance, rewarding billings, sharing little
information, and late involvement with patients are organizational design elements of a “fix‐me” organizational strategy.
17
Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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18
The Information Systems Strategy Triangle
fix the problem. Instead, the Kaiser Permanente strategy focused on promoting health, enabling identification of
problems before they became serious issues. For example, those in need of more exercise may receive a prescription
to take a walk and an e‐mail reminder from health care providers to reinforce the new behavior. Staff incentive
systems were aligned with this behavior, too. Physicians were all paid a flat salary and end‐of‐year bonuses if their
patients achieved better health. All caregivers were rewarded for guiding people into making behavioral choices
that were likely to keep them well.
The success at Kaiser Permanente was achieved in part because of the alignment between its business strategy, its
information systems strategy, and its organization design. Physicians were part of the decision‐making processes.
Managers were involved in the design and implementation of the information systems. The decision to move from
a “fix‐me system” to a “proactive health system” was not made in isolation from the organization or the information
systems.
The information systems (IS) department is not an island within a firm. Rather, IS manages an infrastructure
that is essential to the firm’s functioning. Further, the Kaiser Permanente case illustrates that a firm’s IS must be
aligned with the way it manages its employees and processes. For Kaiser Permanente, it was clear that not only did
the physicians need a fast, inexpensive, and useful way to communicate with patients outside of regular in‐person
appointments but also incentive systems and patient service processes had to be updated. Information systems
provided a solution in conjunction with new operational and control processes.
This chapter introduces a simple framework for describing the alignment necessary with business systems and
for understanding the impact of IS on organizations. This framework is called the Information Systems Strategy
Triangle because it relates business strategy with IS strategy and organizational strategy. This chapter also presents
key frameworks from organization theory that describe the context in which IS operates as well as the business
imperatives that IS support. The Information Systems Strategy Triangle presented in Figure 1.1 suggests three key
points about strategy.
1. Successful firms have an overriding business strategy that drives both organizational strategy and IS strategy. The decisions made regarding the structure, hiring practices, vendor policies, and other components of
the organizational design, as well as decisions regarding applications, hardware, and other IS components,
are all driven by the firm’s business objectives, strategies, and tactics...
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