Business Information Systems Term Paper

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Business Information Systems

What is a Business Information System? A program involving a business information system would prepare the person who is studying the intricacies of the process to be able to oversee the efficient and proper manner in which to use computer hardware and software systems. The individual who has completed the training process in a business information system would be able to work as a computer programmer, or a computer operator, or a peripheral equipment operator, or a data processing analyst, or a systems analyst, or a software engineer, and also various other positions related to the course of study. (Business Information Systems)

The fact is that a business information system is today changing the internal operations and the management of procedures within an organization. Therefore, a business professional must be proficient in the fundamentals of the business information systems that are in use today, and also be well versed in the impact that the technology is capable of exerting on other businesses. A good business information system would be able to not only improve the efficiency and the very effectiveness of all the existing business processes, but also be able to create and enlarge or improve on certain opportunities that were not in existence before the system was inculcated into the organization.

One example that would explain this would be that of 'internetworking' the several different business systems within the organization, whereby the entire information generated as a result of the networking process could be used for the betterment and the improvement of the business. Today, the manager and the executives of an organization must be well versed and educated about the various business systems that are used in the various businesses all over the world, and this would help them to cope and understand the various business processes within their own organization in a much better manner, and as a result, make full use of the advantages and the solutions that occur as a natural process of improvement takes place in the organization because of the implementation of the business information systems within the firm. (The Fundamentals of Information Technology and E-commerce)

In a modern day business organization, an information system is a very important process. The inter-relationship between the changing business processes of today and the onset of more and more modern information systems into the organization is a changing one. The changes are often multi-dimensional and also multi-faceted. The revolution that the information systems are causing within the organization deserves special attention because of the fact that the workings of the entire organization has changed dramatically and drastically, and this can be related to the changes that happen at two important points: one at the point of location of the information systems, and the other at the point of the decision making process within the organization. Therefore, it is seen that in an organization, either the 'MIS' method of transferring of information from one point to another can be used, or the 'organizational re-design' method wherein the various decision rights are transferred or moved can be used.

However, as all this involves large costs, it must be remembered that any changes made to the costs of information processing and of the location of the decision-making rights within the organization would involve extra expenditure for the organization, and any changes that would have to be made would have to be implemented after a careful consideration of the costs involved. When the decision is finally made to implement the changes in the information systems as well as in the management systems of the organization, the essential collocation of information and of decision rights would be achieved with relative ease. Here it must be stated that when the information system within the organization changes in any manner, then it will definitely impact the very structure of the organization. This means that the constant interplay and the inter-relationship between the information systems, the incentives, and the decision rights of the organization, if it occurs in a unified and integrated manner, will lead to new and better insights and also to a better and more efficient organizational planning method being implemented.

However, it must also be stated that despite all the improvements and the significant progress that has been achieved within the organization on account of the changes in the business information systems that have been inculcated therein, the basic understanding and comprehension of this process is still not quite up to the mark; that is, the important economic role that the information systems play in the organization of the business system in the company is not understood as being an important part of the organization of today.

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Therefore, if the business design in the organization is to be met with steady and continued success, then it is important that immense gap between the research in information systems and the research in the economics of the business would have to be narrowed down to a considerable extent if one were to hope to achieve success because of the implementation of information systems within the organization.

The organization and the delineation of work within the organization are at present in a state of change and transformation. For example, in the industrial sector, it is noticed that the age-old manner of mass production using the method of huge and vast vertically integrated and hierarchically organized method of working within the organization is gradually being replaced by the more flexible and lenient method of internal organization within the firm, and also the very industrial structure of the firm. All work that is carried out within the organization of today is being accomplished through several smaller and infinitely more and better-focused networks, the result being that of several loosely joined sub-organizations of working within the organization, and the blurring and even, in some cases, the disappearance of the boundaries that encompass the firm and the industry and separate the two.

One very good example that would illustrate this point is that of the computer industry. Up until yesterday, large vertically integrated firms like IBM and Digital Equipment dominated the computer industry. These firms, which used the traditional vertical and hierarchical system to produce products and services, like a simple microprocessor up to the provision of solutions to other firms, is now changing this system of working to a much simpler and easier method, that of working in layers. This is nothing but a series of layers, each layer consisting of an individual and separate industry. The value that is generated as a result of this arrangement is in fact generated by a combination of a series of coalitions that change constantly and all the time, and where the coalition is composed of a group of members, each of who is in charge of one coalition, which is one separate industry. The member sees to it that the coalition that he is overseeing is a part of his area of core competency, and this helps him in his efforts to leverage and manipulate it through the use of either tactical or strategic partnerships.

The very structure of the team that was a hierarchical one in the days gone by is now being replaced with an entirely different team structure and one good example that demonstrates the benefits as well as the efficiency achieved through the change in the method is that demonstrated by the Silicon Valley method of internal re-organization. When the team or the individual performs better today, incentives are given to them based on their good performances, and this means that the basic differences that used to exist between inter and intra-firm contract is now gradually diminishing and becoming increasingly blurred, therefore illustrating the point that almost all organizations of today are leaning towards major re-structuring and re-organizing efforts in order to improve the performances of the employees within the organization and therefore generate more profits.

What are the symptoms and the causes of the restructuring and the re-organizing efforts that are now going on in all major firms and organizations today? When Frederick Taylor, at the beginning of the twentieth century, attempted to find a scientific basis for the emerging trend of successfully organized businesses being able to generate more profits than the other firms who were not very well structured or organized, he stated that the basis of business organization must be scientifically based. This theory came to be known as the 'Taylorist' approach to business and business organization and management, and when Henry Ford utilized this theory to his own advantage in his automobile manufacturing organization, he met immense and incredible success. He was able to literally dominate the automobile market, and also led to the shutting down of many a small automobile manufacturer who was conducting business at the time.

Henry Ford was able to successfully enmesh his firm with the emerging technology of the time, and with the market conditions and the labor and also the general working environment of the time. However, these principles of management….....

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