Chapter 2 - Understanding Organizational Style and Its Impact on Information Systems

1. Organizational Fundamentals
2. Organizations as Systems
   • Interrelatedness and Interdependence of Systems
   • Systems Processes
   • Organizational Boundaries
   • System Feedback for Planning and Control
   • Environments for Organizational Systems
   • Openness and Closedness in Organizations
   • Taking a Systems Perspective
3. Depicting Systems Graphically
   • Systems and the Context Level Data Flow Diagram
     DFD basic symbols:
     1. process - saction or group of actions that take place
     2. entity - person, group, department, or any system that either receives or originates information or data (source/sink)
     3. data flow - information that is being passed from/to a process
   • Systems and the Entity-Relationship Diagram
     1. 1-1 = represented by two short parallel lines
     2. 1-many = many side represented by "crow's feet"
     3. none = represented by zero (circle)
     4. Associative Entity = something created that joins two entities (ex. invoice)
     5. Attribute Entity = something useful in describing attributes, especially repeating groups (ex. multiple copies of the same video)
   
   Sketching basic E-R diagrams:
   1. List the entities in the organization in order to gain a better understanding of the organization.
   2. Choose key entities in order to narrow the scope of the problem to a manageable and meaningful dimension
   3. Identify what the primary entity should be.
   4. Confirm the results of steps I-III through other data-gathering methods (investigation, interviewing, adminstering questionnaires, observation, and prototyping)
4. Levels of Management
   • Operations Management - make decisions using predetermined rules that have predictable outcomes (ex. work scheduling, inventory control, etc.)
   • Middle Management - make short-term planning and control decisions about how resources may best be allocated to meet organizational objectives. (decisions are less structured)
   • Strategic Management - make decisions that will guide middle and operations managers in months and years ahead. (unstructured decision-making)
   • Implications for Information Systems Development
5. Organizational Culture

Transparencies

Exercises: (due - noon Sept. 8, 1998)
e-mail to summers_wayne@ColumbusState.edu your answers to the following problems: pg. 46 - 3, 5, 6

turn in on Sept. 8rd a solution to Group Project #1 (this may be completed in a small group of 3 to 4 students)
Explore the MRE HyperCase company and e-mail the answers to the questions [This can be done in a group of 2-3]