Chapter II

The Strategic Role of

Information Systems

Chapter 22

Key System Applications in the Organization

• There are different kinds of systems because of different interests, specialties, and levels that cannot be supported by one single system.

• Different Kinds of Systems:– Operational-level system: support operational

managers for activities such as billing, sales, payments, etc. They are directed towards routine questions.

Chapter 23

Key System Applications in the Organization

– Knowledge-level systems: support knowledge and data workers in an organization. Their purpose is to help the business firm discover, organize, and integrate new knowledge into the business and control flow or paperwork.

– Management-level systems: to serve the monitoring, controlling, decision making, and administrative activities of middle managers. Some of them support nonroutine decision making and not clear answers.

Chapter 24

Key System Applications in the Organization

– Strategic-level systems: help senior management tackle and address strategic issues and long-term trends, both in the firm and in the external environment.

• Information systems can be differentiated by functional specialty. Furthermore, each functional specialty has the different kinds of information systems. Also IS are custom-made systems that fit exactly to each individual organization’s needs.

Chapter 25

Key System Applications in the Organization

• Six Major Types of Systems– Transaction Processing Systems serve the

operational level of the org. It performs and records the daily, routine transactions necessary to process the business. Goals, tasks, and resources are predefined and highly structured.

– Knowledge work and office automation systems: both serve knowledge level of the organization (cont.)

Chapter 26

Key System Applications in the Organization

• (cont.) knowledge workers are people who are often professionals and create new information and knowledge.

• Office automation systems handle and manage documents, scheduling, and communication.

• Word processing refers to systems that creates, edits, formats, stores, and prints documents.

• Desktop publishing produces professional publishing-quality documents.

• Finally, document imaging system to convert documents and images into digital format.

Chapter 27

Key System Applications in the Organization

– Management Information Systems are oriented exclusively to internal, not environmental or external, events.

• MIS serve at management level to control, decision making, and planning.

• They depend upon TPS.• MIS server managers interested in weekly, monthly,

and yearly results.• They have little analytical capability and not

flexible.