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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]


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