What’s New in Management Information Systems?
WHAT’S NEW IN MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
SYSTEMS?
Lots! What makes management information systems the most exciting topic in business is the continual change in technology, management use of the technology, and the impact on business success. New businesses and industries appear, old ones decline, and successful firms are those who learn how to use the new technologies. Table 1-1 summarizes the major new themes in business uses of information systems. These themes will appear throughout the book in all the chapters, so it might be a good idea to take some time now and discuss these with your professor and other students.
In the technology area there are three interrelated changes: (1) the emerging mobile digital platform, (2) the growth of online software as a service, and
(3) the growth in “cloud computing” where more and more business software runs over the Internet.
IPhones, iPads, BlackBerrys, and Web-surfing netbooks are not just gadgets or entertainment outlets. They represent new emerging computing platforms based on an array of new hardware and software technologies. More and more business computing is moving from PCs and desktop machines to these mobile devices. Managers are increasingly using these devices to coordinate work, communicate with employees, and provide information for decision making. We call these developments the “emerging mobile digital platform.”
Managers routinely use so-called “Web 2.0” technologies like social networking, collaboration tools, and wikis in order to make better, faster decisions. As management behavior changes, how work gets organized, coordinated, and measured also changes. By connecting employees working on teams and projects, the social network is where works gets done, where plans are executed, and where managers manage. Collaboration spaces are where employees meet one another—even when they are separated by continents and time zones.
The strength of cloud computing and the growth of the
SYSTEMS?
Lots! What makes management information systems the most exciting topic in business is the continual change in technology, management use of the technology, and the impact on business success. New businesses and industries appear, old ones decline, and successful firms are those who learn how to use the new technologies. Table 1-1 summarizes the major new themes in business uses of information systems. These themes will appear throughout the book in all the chapters, so it might be a good idea to take some time now and discuss these with your professor and other students.
In the technology area there are three interrelated changes: (1) the emerging mobile digital platform, (2) the growth of online software as a service, and
(3) the growth in “cloud computing” where more and more business software runs over the Internet.
IPhones, iPads, BlackBerrys, and Web-surfing netbooks are not just gadgets or entertainment outlets. They represent new emerging computing platforms based on an array of new hardware and software technologies. More and more business computing is moving from PCs and desktop machines to these mobile devices. Managers are increasingly using these devices to coordinate work, communicate with employees, and provide information for decision making. We call these developments the “emerging mobile digital platform.”
Managers routinely use so-called “Web 2.0” technologies like social networking, collaboration tools, and wikis in order to make better, faster decisions. As management behavior changes, how work gets organized, coordinated, and measured also changes. By connecting employees working on teams and projects, the social network is where works gets done, where plans are executed, and where managers manage. Collaboration spaces are where employees meet one another—even when they are separated by continents and time zones.
The strength of cloud computing and the growth of the