FREE online courses on Information Technology - Chapter 1 INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY - INTRODUCTION
We are living in revolutionary times, a revolution brought on
by dramatic advances in information
technology (IT). If the steam engine, new forms of power, and mechanization
created an Industrial Revolution over 150 years ago, computers and communication
equipment have produced a Technology Revolution in the last half of the
twentieth century. The Computer has
been called “the machine that changed the world”. You will encounter many
coworkers who have not yet developed a vision for what information technology
can create. They may be using rigid, old systems or fail to see the emerging
role of IT in communications. We believe that information technology has and
will continue to revolutionize management.
To name a few contributions, IT
¨
Provides new ways to design organizations that
can lead to structures like the T-Form organization described later in this
chapter.
¨
Creates new relationships between customers and
suppliers who electronically link themselves together.
¨
Enables tremendous efficiencies in production and
service industries through electronic data interchange to facilitate
just-in-time production.
¨
Changes the basis of competition and industry
structure, for example, in the airline and securities industries.
¨
Provides mechanisms through groupware for
coordinating work and creating a knowledge base of organizational intelligence.
¨
Contributes to the productivity and flexibility
of knowledge workers.
¨
Provides the manager with electronic alternatives
to face-to-face communications and supervision.
A major objective of this text is to communicate the
excitement and opportunities provided by this revolution in information
technology.
But, to obtain the benefits described above, you have to be
able to manage the technology. In the mid 1990s, two senior managers lost their
jobs over information technology. The long-term chairman of Macy's department
stores retired because, though a great merchant, he never developed the skills
for choosing computer systems or analyzing a balance sheet. The chief executive
of the London Stock Exchange, resigned over the failure of the Exchange to
complete its Taurus paperless settlements system.
The Stock Exchange has spent over $100 million and estimated
that it would take three more years and twice the initial investment to finish
the project.
A manager must have a number of skills to succeed in the
competitive, global economy that characterizes the end of the twentieth and the
beginning of the twenty-first century. One of the most important is an
understanding of and ability to manage information technology. The purpose of
this text is to prepare you for this important managerial role.
