3.5 Corporate Information Systems Strategy

1. 3.5 Corporate Information Systems Strategy Chapter 5 Pg 66

2. What is a Corporate Information Systems Strategy? • A statement of the long-term objectives and goals for an organisation’s information system.

3. Describe the Factors Influencing an Organisation’s Information System(s)… • Management organisation and functions • Planning and decision-making methods • General organisational structure • Responsibility for information systems within an organisation • Hardware and software • Standards • Behavioural factors • Efficiency of information flows

4. Management Organisation and Functions • Managers do the following as part of their jobs: • Organise and implement • Plan (strategically and tactically, depending on their level within the organisation) • Control and review Back

5. General Organisational Structure • Information must be communicated up and down the various levels of a hierarchical structure to allow managers to make timely and effective decisions. Back

6. Responsibility for an Info System within an organisation • Data processing responsibility usually falls to IT dept • Responsibility of MIS usually less formal and can lead to problems: • IT dept not aware of existence of systems set up by individual depts. • Can compromise data security (dept head not aware of DPA etc) • Most of such data can be duplicated for different depts (waste of time and resources).

7. Responsibility cont… • Best Information Systems are those that are developed formally. • All data is kept together (data warehousing) • All managers have software capable of extracting info in a formal way they can use. • Data is not duplicated therefore consistent. back

8. Hardware and Software • Many organisations have limited budget and have to make do with existing H/W and S/W • This means that often the optimum system cannot be developed. back

9. Behavioural Factors • Attitude of staff to change is a very important factor. New systems need full co-operation of staff (especially senior managers) • If staff members are poorly motivated changes will be resisted. • Job security may become an issue with some staff. back

10. Information Flow • Describe the methods and mechanisms of information flow within an organisation both formal and informal and the constraints imposed upon this by organisational structures.

11. Information Flows • Formal vs Informal • Many reports generated automatically and distributed as a matter of routine. • Daily stock lists • Monthly sales figures • Lists of overdue accounts • Other reports are asked for informally • Request after sales meeting for last five years sales figures to make future predictions.

12. Formal vs Informal cont.. • Formal information requests eg form filling, authorisation by senior managers etc (SLOW!) • Informal requests generally much faster.

13. Efficiency of Information Flows • Without adequate flows of data and info to the various functions within the organisation, no MIS will be able to supply appropriate info at the right time and this will lead to bad decisions being made. • Factors that can affect those flows include…..

14. Organisational Structure • An organisation with a flat structure has fewer levels and it is therefore easier to route the info to the most appropriate person.

15. Geographical Structure • Wider geographical structure can cause problems but latest technology no longer means distance is a hindrance. • videoconferencing • Distributed processing • All processing doesn’t take place on a single site. • Although more complex to manage has the advantage of increased security.

16. What Can be Done to Review Current Information Flows? • Inspect current input/output subsystems • Track the documents used for input/output into the system • Interview the end-users – are they getting info at the right time? • Use questionnaires – how satisfied are users with current info flows? • Examine requests made for developments to improve the current system • Inspect the reports and info from the current system.

17. Personnel • Understand the levels of task/personnel within an organisation: • Strategic • Tactical • Operational • And relate the needs of these three levels to the information system

18. Planning and Decision Making • Can be at different levels • Strategic • Setting broad objectives and formulating a policy for the whole organisation • Tactical • Setting medium to short-term objectives. • Operational • Dealing with jobs in hand.