Mis Summary

Included with this full-text Harvard Business Review article: 1 Article Summary The Idea in Brief—the core idea The Idea in Practice—putting the idea to work 2 Investing in the IT That Makes a Competitive Difference 11 Further Reading A list of related materials, with annotations to guide further exploration of the article’s ideas and applications

Information systems are the foundation for conducting business today. In many industries, survival and even existence without extensive use of IT is inconceivable, and IT plays a critical role in increasing productivity. Although information technology has become more of a commodity, when coupled with complementary changes in organization and management,

Many research papers have elaborated on the topic of agency costs such as Hermalin and Weisbach 2003, and many others on the role and importance of contracts in the firm environment. (Roberts and Sufi 2009a).

This article makes up Chapter 1 of the free, open access book titled, Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology, by John Gallaugher. Please ensure that you read the entire Chapter 1 of the book consisting of 3 parts (Part 1 Introduction; Part 2 Don’t Guess, Gather Data; and Part 3 Moving Forward).

Information Technology (IT) is a foundation for conducting business today. It plays a critical role in increasing productivity of firms and entire nation. It is proven that firms who invested in IT have experienced continued growth in productivity and efficiency. Many companies' survival and even existence without use of IT is unimaginable. IT has become the largest component of capital investment for companies in the United States and many other countries.

Information technology is defined as shared technology resources that provide the platform for an organization's specific information system applications. IT deals with the technology involved in the systems themselves. According to our book, it consists of all the hardware and software that a company would need to use in order to achieve its business objectives. This includes not only computer machines, storage devices, and handheld mobile devices, but also software, such as the Windows or Linux operating systems, the Microsoft Office desktop productivity suite, and the many thousands of computer programs that can be found in a typical large firm.

Information Technology (IT): The hardware and software technologies a firm needs to achieve its business objectives (Kenneth C Laudon and Jane P Laudon., 2010).

“No longer is IT just another tool the CEO might use to accomplish costs saving and operational ends. Today, information technology can help solve product problems, set new levels of service and create new distribution and communication channels.”

Case Study Assignment KL Worldwide Enterprises Inc.: Putting Information Technology to Work Submitted by Mark Lemoine September 14th, 2012

The Case for this module centers on an organization implementing a new computer-based information processing system. Thousands of organizations go through the same kind of process every day—you yourself may have been involved in one or more such "technology transformations." Despite this body of experience; the advice of thousands of consultants, researchers, and computer gurus; and the leverage of multibillion-dollar corporations such as Microsoft, Google, and Oracle; a large proportion of these

The work entitled "Challenges and Reflections on Knowledge Society & Sociotechnical Systems" reports that information technology (IT) is redefining the business basis" and that "customer attendance, operations, product strategies, marketing and distribution and even the society of knowledge depend sometimes even totally on Information System (IS)." (Balloni, 2010, p.21) The implementation of a new technology has been associated with problems that are "often linked to resistance by the work force and failure to achieve the expected benefits." (Balloni, 2010, p.21) Balloni (2010) reports that there must be a fit between the 'technical' and 'social' system, which form the organization. This means that business strategy, rules and processes determine the type of software and subsequently the type of hardware, database, and telecommunications system needed by the organization. The social system is comprised by the organization's

The mini-case starts with “IT is a pain in the neck,” which is a wrong notion that most of the business managers have in an organization. The history of IT-business relationships in most of the organizations shows that there is a huge gap between both sides which is getting better over a period of time. Today, managers know the fact that it is the people, technology and information that realizes the value of a company and everytime IT cannot be blamed for everything. The days have gone when IT was looked at as the sole responsibility for a company’s growth or downfall. IT processes along with the

Frequently, organizational leaders introduce technology as a method to improve overall performance (Kapoor & Lee, 2013; Yukl, 2013). Technological changes are often seen in areas such as information systems, inventory and order processing, sales, and workstations. Although technology may be necessary for an organization to remain competitive, without modifications to the roles, attitudes, and values held by members of the organization the introduction of technology can be challenging and offer limited success (Kapoor & Lee, 2013; Yukl, 2013).

The emerging IT developments make big changes not only possible, but also increasingly necessary. IT has become a driving force for change, new innovation and new opportunities by offering powerful tools for furthering digitization of our work processes, services we offer, as well as creation of information products such as grey and other literature. The emerging new digital environment has the potential to impact all aspects of the way we do business, and the way we relate to our customers and the world around us. In order to meet expectations and benefit from this challenging opportunity, information managers need to be cognizant of new IT trends and the possibilities they offer in order to define the best strategies and action plans for their successful implementation in future.

CHANGE is the only constant in the relationship between information systems and organizations. As technology evolves and changes, its introduction into organizations requires changes in the firm 's infrastructure and the services it can provide to its employees, customers, and suppliers.