DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

 An integrated set of components for collecting, storing, processing, and communicating information is called information system. Business firms, other organizations, and individuals in contemporary society rely on information systems to manage their operations, compete in the marketplace, supply services, and augment personal lives. For instance, modern corporations rely on computerized information systems to process financial accounts and manage human resources; municipal governments rely on information systems to provide basic services to its citizens; and individuals use information systems to study, shop, bank, and invest.

As major new technologies for recording and processing new capabilities have appeared, the invention of movable type in the mid15th century and the creation of the portable typewriter at the end of the 19th century are but two examples. Each of these inventions led to a profound revolution in the ability to record and disseminates information. The first largescale mechanized information system was Herman Hollerith’s census tabulator. Invented to process the 1890 U.S. census, Hollerith’s machine represented a major step in automation, as well as an inspiration to develop computerized information systems. Beginning in the 1970s, personal computers brought some of the advantages of information systems to small businesses and to individuals, and the invention of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s accelerated the creation of an open global computer network. This was accompanied by a dramatic growth in digital human communications (email and electronic conferences), delivery of products (software, music, and movies), and business transactions (buying, selling, and advertising on the Web). As information systems have enabled more diverse human activities, they have exerted a profound influence over society. Many transaction processing systems support electronic commerce over the Internet.

Among these are systems for online shopping, banking, and securities trading. Other systems deliver information, educational services, and entertainment on demand. Yet other systems serve to support the search for products with desired attributes, price discovery (for example, via an auction), and delivery of products in an electronic form (software, music, movies, or greeting cards). A growing array of specialized services and information based products are offered by various organizations on the Web, as an infrastructure for electronic commerce is emerging on a global scale.

Information systems bring new options to the way companies interact, the way organizations are structured, and the way workplaces are designed. In general, use of network based information systems can significantly lower the costs of communication among workers and firms and enhance coordination on collaborative projects. This has led many organizations to concentrate on their core competencies and to outsource other parts of their value chain to specialized companies. The capability to communicate information efficiently within a firm has also led to the deployment of flatter organizational structures with fewer hierarchical layers.

Nevertheless, information systems do not uniformly lead to higher profits. Success depends on both the skill with which information systems are deployed and the availability of other assets. In particular, “virtual” organizations have emerged that do not rely on physical offices and standard organization charts. Two notable forms are a network organization and a cluster organization.

In a network organization, longterm corporate partners supply goods and services to and through a central firm. Together, a network of small companies can present the appearance of a large corporation. Indeed, at the core of such an organization may be nothing more than a single entrepreneur supported by only a few employees. Thanks to information systems, product specifications in an electronic form can be modified during computerized video conferences between employees throughout an organization—after which supplies can be secured and distribution coordinated, using automatic electronic forms as sales orders are received. Wide area networks, and the Internet in particular, help partnering organizations to facilitate the interaction of widely dispersed business units.

Team members, who are often widely dispersed around the globe, are greatly assisted in their work by the use of corporate intranets and groupware.

Information systems built around portable computers, mobile devices, and groupware have enabled employees to work not just outside the corporate offices but virtually anywhere. “Work is the thing you do, not the place you go to,” has become the slogan of the emerging new workplace. Virtual workplaces include home offices, regional work centres, customers’ premises, and mobile offices of people. Employees who work in virtual workplaces outside their company’s premises are known as telecommuters.