Three questions in one document. This is an assignment at Masters level, please make good references (25 sources at least), using Harvard referencing system, no plagarism.Questions1) Explain the diffe

Enterprise Information Systems Topic 1 – Overview Topic’s learning objectives:  Introduction to Information Systems    Organizational Strategy, Competitive Advantage, and Information Systems  1.1 Introduction to Information Systems One of Bill Gates favorite phrases is that you cannot speak meaningfully about technology without speaking about business and that you cannot speak meaningfully about business without speaking about technology. Information Systems are shaped by the way businesses work and they shape businesses. Therefore, in order to be successful in business individuals and organizations need to be knowledgeable on both. This is challenging in itself but what r eally increases the level of difficulty is that both of these areas move forward at a frantic pace.

Matching a new business trend to a technology or a new technology to a business encompasses risks to those who are willing to be pioneers. While some technologies may or may not be adopted by an organization Information Systems encompass those technologies that most organizations will use to some extent. They can be defined as the following: ‘A combination of hardware, software and telecommunications networks that people build and use to collect, create and distribute useful data especially in organizational settings.’ Information Systems Today. ‘…collects, processes, stores, analyzes and disseminates for a specific purpose’, Rainer and Watson, 2012. Between them these two references give a good idea of what Information Systems involve. The first reference would probably be more complete if it also distinguished databases from hardware and software and included procedures. As discussed in the first paragraph separating the IS from the business is difficult so the processes people follow when using the technology is part of the system. As people get more connected and the volume of data and the processing power increase Information Systems become more important. As a simple informed user the better one understands IS the better they can use it and influence its use. The IS is usually comprised of a large number of systems, which themselves incorporate a large number of applications. Figure 1.1 shows how certain systems act like a base for all the systems such as the IT components.

Others act like pillars as they are customized for each department and Business Intelligence can be considered to be the culmination of all the systems as it harnesses them to draw knowledge and insight. A complete solution that covers all the processes an organization follows can be considered to be an Enterprise Information System. Figure 1.1 How IT components are integrated to form the wide variety of information systems within a single organization Source: Rainer and Watson, 2012 Pause for thought Smartphones and other portable devices enable many of us to be constantly connected to the internet and the systems we use for work. What are some advantages and disadvantages of this? 1.2 Organizational Strategy, Competitive Advantage, and Information Systems There are a number of ways to explore the relationship between an organizations and the IS systems. One approach is to break down what an organization does into processes and then map the systems processes to those that the organization does. Here we will relate it to strategy and competitive advantage. The logic is that in order to add a new system it must implement the strategy and create a competitive advantage. Having a competitive advantage over competitors can increase sales and profits significantly. Maintaining it or finding new ones in a dynamic environment is an on -going challenge. Figure 1.2 Business pressures, organizational performance and responses , and IT support Many factors, such as the global economy, an issue we are all too aware of, ethics, information overload influence the organization and eventually these forces influence the IS and IT. It is impossible to cover every influence and every scenario so the purpose of discussing these issues is for the dynamic environment and broad range of influences to be appreciated. When creating a compet itive strategy both the organizations and the competitors’ next moves must be considered. Porter’s five forces illustrated in figure 1.3 show the forces that influence these strategic decisions. The original model only had the four forces acting on the org anization but this version adds the rivalry with competitors. It further illustrates the point made earlier that the organization and its IS systems need to adapt to the dynamic environment, and they need to do it better than their competitors. Lastly Port er’s competitive forces indicate the balancing act an organization must perform as the limited resources need to be deployed to counteract these competing threats. Figure 1.3 Porter’s competitive forces model Pause for thought For the following companies, in the current environment which of Porter’s forces should concern them most and why? • Samsung mobile. • Estate agent in southern Europe. • European wholesale meat supplier. Optional exercise Based on the course m aterial and other sources answer the following questions: i. How do es Business Intelligence relate to other IS systems? How do they support each other. ii. You have a friend that is thinking of taking the course but he says that since he is not a programmer he does not need to know these things. What would you tell him? iii. An organization uses many systems and applications from Word to sophisticated Business Intelligence systems. Should all their systems be strategic? What are the criteria for a system to be chosen as a strategic system? iv. Describe Porter’s compe titive forces and Porter’s value chain. How are they related? Further reading Rainer R.K., Watson H.J. (2012) Management Information Systems:

Moving Business Forward, Wiley. Gunasekaran, A., Shea, T. (2009) Organizational Advancements through Enterprise Information Systems: Emerging Applications and Developments: IGI Global Motiwalla, L. And Thompson, J. (2012) Enterprise Systems for Management: International Version , 2/E, Pearson Higher Education Magal, S. R. and Word, J. (2012) Integrated Business Processes with ERP Systems, Wiley Plus course Cruz -Cunha, M. M. (2009) Social, Managerial, and Organizational Dimensions of Enterprise Information Systems , IGI Global Obrien, J. and Marakas G. (2007): ‘Enterprise Information Systems’, Chapter 12: Local and International Management of Information Technology, 13th ed., McGraw Hill.