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Management Information Systems, 12E

Laudon & Laudon

Lecture Files by Barbara J. Ellestad

Chapter 1 Information Systems in Global Business Today

Computers are changing every aspect of our lives from entertainment to shopping, from the work we do and where we do it, to how we communicate with friends and relatives. Networking technologies are pervading almost everything we do professionally, socially, and recreationally. As you can see from the opening case in the text, many companies are remodeling their businesses and information systems with the Internet in mind. It has become more important than ever for you to understand not just how technology works but also how current and future advances affect your work life.

1.1 The Role of Information Systems in Business Today

Ask managers to describe their most important resources and they’ll list money, equipment, materials, and people — not necessarily in that order. It’s very unusual for managers to consider information an important resource, and yet it is. As electronic business and electronic commerce grow in popularity and more firms digitize their operations, having useful information is becoming even more important to the global business community.

This chapter gives you an overview of many of the subjects we’ll touch on in this course. It will help you understand how all firms today, large and small, local and global, use information systems to achieve important business objectives, such as operational efficiency, customer and supplier intimacy, better decision making, and new products and services.

How Information Systems are Transforming Business

You can’t help but know about all the job cuts occurring in our country. It seems like every week we hear about thousands and thousands of people losing their jobs. Back in the 1980s, most of the job losses were in the blue-collar

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