4 Management Information System and Information Resource Management

Dr. Sudhanshu Joshi

1. Introduction:

As we have learned in previous modules Management Information System (also known as Information Infrastructure Management) is primarily aim to Control, organized information and to take better business decision across carious departments in the organization. Therefore, Management of information becomes the principal function performed by business and information professionals. Beside to above other stakeholders (including suppliers, government agencies, and other beneficiaries) are also interested in information and its management for various information activities (e.g. Knowledge generation of Public and Private Information, Storage and dissemination of information among stakeholder).

The concept of Information Resource Management aims to identify information as an asset that could be processes and manageable. It requires process and system knowledge, communication and technical expertise. The major users of Information are knowledge workers (Middle level and top level managers) who create and process information. The use of such information could be for broader usage including policy/ action plan formulation, resource optimization (land, labor, capital, technology, material etc).

Youtube animation I : What is Information Resource Management

Following YouTube link explains the Nature and Scope of Information Resource Management/Information Infrastructure Management https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhSfQqmp-9Q

The video highlights need and scope of information Infrastructure Management for the business organizations. (Source: http://zerotoprotraining.com)

Checkbox I: The significance of Information Resource Management in the Hospital setup

Checkbox I: A patient when consults a doctor initially tells him all possible symptoms. With this information, the doctor examines the patient and makes a diagnosis. Afterward, the doctor determines the treatment to heal the patient. For example, based on the diagnosis, the doctor may write the patient a prescription for some medication. Finally, the doctor must document the symptoms, the diagnosis, and the treatments. In modern days, most doctors use a software system to record this information.

Definition

2.1 Information:

Before we provide our definition of an information system, we first explain the term “information,” which can mean any of the following:

1. The communication act of one agent—the term “agent” may refer to any entity ranging from a person or a software component to an organization— informing another agent (e.g., by exchanging messages);
2. The knowledge or beliefs of agents as a part of their mental state;
3. (Data) objects that represent knowledge or beliefs.

2.2 Resource

A re-usable source of supply to produce something. Example includes human, financial, material, and information resources. To maximize the efficient a effective use of resources, they must classified in order to share them and eliminate unwanted redundancy, and controlled in order to receive, store and distribute them properly.

2.3. Management

A set of activities (including planning and decision making, organizing, leading and controlling) directed at an organization’s resources (human, financial, physical, and information) with the aim of achieving organizational goals in an efficient and effective manner.

2.4. Information Resource Management

IRM can be stated simply as a process to manage information efficiently and effectively in fulfilling the objectives of the firm.

IRM concepts rest under the premise that information, information related activities, technologies and personnel are important organizational resources that deserve to be managed like any other resources in the organization (Trauth, 1989).

2.5. Adaptive Organization

An organization that modifies its business practices in response to the changing needs of its stakeholders (customers, employees, and stakeholder).

It rapidly adapt to changes in its operating environment, it doesn’t take the time to determine the underlying patterns of change within the environment.

2.6. Knowing Organization

The Knowing organization possesses information and knowledge so that it is well informed, mentally perspective, and enlightened. Its actions are based on shared and valid understanding of the organization’s environments and needs (Choo, Chun Wei, 1998)

2.7. Learning Organization

An organization in which everyone is engaged in identifying and solving problems, enabling the organization to continuously experiment, improve, and increase its capability.

Changing employee behaviors and attitudes is key to the continuous organizational renewal needed in today’s rapidly changing world. The organization as a whole is committed to continual improvement of every facet of itself, its products and its services.

3. Scope of Information Resource Management

Information Resource Management (IRM) is the management (planning, organization, operations and control) of the resources (human and physical) concerned with the systems support (development, enhancement and maintenance) and the servicing (processing, transformation, distribution, storage and retrieval) of information (data, text, voice, image) for an enterprise (Schneyman, 1985). IRM is recognition by an organization that data and information are valuable resources and the application of the same principles an managing data and information as are used in managing physical resources such as personnel. (McLeod and Brittain-White, 1988).Information is an asset that should be managed rigorously (Kerr, 1991).

4. Information Resources:

Figure 1 illustrate components of IRM in Modern Organization

Figure 1: The Information Resources

5. Why we need Information Resource Management

It is necessary in Today’s Modern organization. The engine that is driving the information economy whereby information and knowledge are intensively used. Information resources are important resources. Therefore, it needs effective management.

6. Benefits of IRM

Identifies gaps and duplication of information.

Clarifies roles and responsibilities of owners and users of information. Provide costs saving in the procurement and handling of information Identifies cost/benefits of different information resources

Actively supports management decision processes with quality information.

7. Significance of Information Resource Management

Any organization that wants to survive in today’s turbulent dynamic environment need IRM in order to be adaptive, knowing and learning.

Information Resource Management (IRM) plays a significant role due to following reasons:

Challenge to perform better, effectively and quickly, sharing of information and knowledge is critical for organizations Wherever and whenever possible information should be stored in a form that maximizes its inherent usefulness.

Information is a valuable resource and requires careful stewardship/Organizations that handle information processes with people who regularly needs to access distributed information in course of workflow such as data workers. Information workers, and knowledge workers.

8. Tools for implementing Information Resource Management (IRM)

8.1 Enterprise Resource Planning: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of core business processes, often in real-time and mediated by software and technology. These business activities can include:

Product planning, purchase

Manufacturing or service delivery Marketing and sales

Inventory management Shipping and payment Finance

ERP is usually referred to as a category of business-management software— typically a suite of integrated applications—that an organization can use to collect, store, manage and interpret data from these many business activities. ERP provides an integrated and continuously updated view of core business processes using common databases maintained by a database managementsystem. ERP systems track business resources—cash, raw materials, production capacity—and the status of business commitments:orders, purchase orders, and payroll. The applications that make up the system share data across various departments (manufacturing, purchasing, sales, accounting, etc.) that provide the data. ERP facilitates information flow between all business functions and manages connections to outside stakeholders. Enterprise system software is a multibillion-dollar industry that produces components supporting a variety of business functions. IT investments have become the largest category of capital expenditure in United States-based businesses over the past decade. Though early ERP systems focused on large enterprises, smaller enterprises increasingly use ERP systems.

The ERP system integrates varied organizational systems and facilitates error-free transactions and production, thereby enhancing the organization’s efficiency. However, developing an ERP system differs from traditional system development. ERP systems run on a variety of computer hardware and network configurations, typically using a database as an information repository

8.2 Willard Model

Identification: The discovery of information resources and the recording of their features in an inventory

Ownership- The establishment of responsibility for the upkeep of an information resource.

Cost and Value- Assessment of the cost of an information resource and its value to the organization.

Development- The further development of an existing information resource to enhance its value to the organization.

Exploitation- The processes which may allow a resource to generate further value through conversation into an asset or an saleable commodity.

9. Applications of Information Resource Management

9.1 Operations Support Systems (OSS) produce a variety of information products for internal and external use, such as processing business transactions, controlling industrial processes, supporting enterprise communications and collaborations, and updating corporate databases effectively. They do not emphasize the specific information products that can best be used by managers. Further processing by management information systems is usually required.

Classification within Operations Support Systems (OSS)-a. Specialized Processing System b. Transaction Processing System

1. Process Control System
2. Enterprise collaboration System

9.2 Management Support System (MSS) is more specifically focus on the process of providing information and support for decision-making by different levels of responsibilities of the managers and business professionals Under Management Support System (MSS) various Information systems are covered as mentioned following:

9.3 Management Information Systems (MIS): provide information in the form of reports and displays to managers and many business professionals that support their day-to-day decision-making needs. Usually the information has been specified in advance to adequately meet the expectations on operational and tactical levels of the organization, where the decision making situations are more structured and better defined.

9.4 Decision Support Systems (DSS) are computer-based information systems that provide interactive information support to managers and business professionals during the decision-making process. DSS use analytical models, specialized databases, a decision maker’s own insights and judgments, and an interactive, computer-based modeling process to support semi-structured business

9.5 Executive Information Systems (EIS) or Executive Support Systems (ESS) are information systems that combine many of the futures of MIS and DSS. Here the information is presented in forms tailored to the preferences of the executives using the system, such as graphical user interface, customized to the executives graphics displays, exception reporting, trend analysis, and abilities to ‘drill-down’ and retrieve displays of related information quickly at lower levels of detail.

9.6 Specialized Processing Systems (PS) are information systems characterized as functional business systems, strategic information systems, knowledge management systems, and expert systems.

It is important to realize that business applications of information systems in the real world are typically integrated combinations of all these types of information systems. In practice, all these different types and roles of information systems are combined into integrated or Cross-Functional Business Information Systems that provide a variety of functions.

Thus, most information systems are designed to produce information and support decision making for various levels of management and business functions, as well as perform record-keeping and transaction-processing chores. Whenever you analyze or work with an information system, you probably see that it provides information for a variety of managerial levels and business functions.

10. Managing Information Resources and Technologies

There is a real need for business end users to understand and know how to plan and manage information systems and technology in an organization. Information technology capability enables managers to manage organizational interdependence to meet business needs. Information technology such as telecommunications, networks, powerful personal computers and information resources are now more readily available to more managers than ever before.

11. Managers and Information Technologies

Information technology presents managers with a major managerial challenge. The competitive pressures of the business and technology environment of the late 1990s are forcing major firms to rethink their use and management of information technology. Many business executives now see information technology as an enabling technology for managing the cross-functional and interorganizational processes those business units must have to successfully confront the competitive measures they face.

11.1 Forces that affect Information Technology investment decision

A variety of forces that seem to be causing a significant change in the structure and distribution of managers in organizations in which information technology plays a major role include:

• Organizations are become more knowledge-based, “composed largely of specialists who direct and discipline their own performance through organized feedback from colleagues, customers, and headquarters”.
• The Internet, intranets, and extranets and more cost-effective hardware and software are enabling individuals, teams, workgroups, business units, and organizations to be “wired together” in close business relationships that can provide the communication and coordination needed in today’s competitive global marketplace.
• Decision support capability provided by information systems technology is changing the focus of managerial decision making.
• Managing the information systems resources of a business is no longer the sole province of information system specialists. Instead, information resource management has become a major responsibility of all managers.

12. Poor IS Performance:

The information systems function has performance problems in many organizations. For example, information technology is not being used effectively, efficiently, or economically by many organizations. Information technology is not being used:

• Effectively – if it is used primarily to computerize traditional business processes, instead of using it for decision support and innovative processes and products to gain competitive advantages.
• Efficiently – by information services groups that provide poor response times, frequent downtime, incompatible systems, unintegrated data, and applications development backlogs.
• Economically – if information technology costs rise faster than other costs, even though the cost of processing each unit of data has decreased due to dramatic price reductions and improvements in hardware and software technology.

13. Governance for Information Resource Management

The experiences of successful organizations reveal that the basic ingredient of high quality information systems performance is extensive and meaningful involvement of managers and end users in governance of the IS function.

Proper involvement of managers in the management of IT requires the development of governance structures that encourage the active participation of managerial end users in planning and controlling the business uses of IT. By being involved in IT decisions that affect their business units, managers avoid IS performance problems. Without this high degree of involvement, managers will not be able to improve the business value of information technology. Several major levels of management involve and governance of information technology include:

13.1 Executive Information Technology Committee – Committee of top executives who do strategic information system planning and coordinate the development of major information systems projects.

13.2 IT Steering Committee – Committee of business unit managers, operating managers, and management personnel from the information services department who oversee the progress of systems development projects.

13.3 End User Management– Direct end user management of information technology in business units and work groups, including participation in developing key information systems.

14. Organizational impact of IT and Sociotechnical systems

To better understand the organizational impact of information technology, it is useful to view an organization as a sociotechnical system. The sociotechnical systems concept emphasizes that to improve an organization’s performance, managers must:

(i) Change one or more of these components

(ii) Take into account the relationships among these interdependent components.

The basic components of a sociotechnical system include: People: – Managers are individuals with a variety of preferences for information and diverse capabilities for effectively using information provided to them. Information systems must produce information products tailored to meet managers’ individual needs.

Task: – Tasks in many organizations have become quite complex and inefficient over time. Information technology can play a major role in fighting organizational complexity by supporting the reengineering of business processes.

Technology: – Technology of computer-based information systems continues to grow more sophisticated and complex. However, this technology should not dictate the information needs of end users in the performance of their organizational tasks. It should accommodate the management culture and structure of each organization.

Culture: – Organizations and their subunits have a culture which is shared by managers and other employees. They have a unique set of organizational values and styles which can range from informal too very formal. The designs of information systems and information products must accommodate such differences.

Structure: – Organizations structure their management, employees, and job tasks into a variety of organizational subunits. The IS function must no longer assume a hierarchical, centralized, organizational structure which it supports by centralizing processing power, databases, and systems development at the corporate headquarters level. This type of structure emphasizes gathering data into centralized databases and producing reports to meet the information needs of functional executives.

Instead, IT must be able to support more decentralized, collaborative types of organizational structure, which needs more interconnected intranets or client/server networks, distributed databases, downsized computers, and systems development resources distributed to business unit and work group levels. Thus, information technology must emphasize quick and easy communication and collaboration among individuals, business units, and other organization workgroups, using electronics instead of paper.

15. Information Resource Management and Management Decision

Information resource management has become a popular way to emphasize a major change in the management and mission of the information systems function in many organizations. In many organizations, IRM may be viewed as having five major dimensions:

15.1 Strategic Management – information technology must be managed to contribute to a firm=s strategic objectives and competitive advantages, not just for operational efficiency or decision making.

15.2 Operational Management– information technology and information systems can be managed by functional organizational structures and managerial techniques commonly used throughout other business units.

15.3 Resource Management – data and information, hardware and software, telecommunications networks, and IS personnel are vital organizational resources that must be managed like other business assets.

15.4 Technology Management – all technologies that process, store, and communicate data and information throughout the enterprise should be managed as integrated systems of organizational resources.

15.5 Distributed Management- Managing the use of information technology and information system resources in business units or workgroups is a key responsibility of their managers, no matter what their function or level in the organization.

15.6. Strategic Management: The IS function must manage information technology so that it makes major contributions to the profitability and strategic objectives of the firm. Thus, the information systems’ function must change from an information services utility focussed only on serving a firm’s transaction processing or decision support needs. Instead it must become a producer or packager of information products or an enabler of organizational structures and business processes that can give a firm a comparative advantage over its competitors.

15.7. Operational Management: The IRM concept stresses that managerial functions and techniques and organizational structures common to most businesses can be used to manage information technology. Business and IS managers can use managerial techniques (such as planning models, financial budgets, and project management), and a mix of functional and process-based work groups and business units, just as they do in other major areas of business.

The information systems’ function is treated like other functions and expected to use the managerial techniques employed by other business units to manage its resources and activities.

Information services departments perform several basic functions and activities.

These can be grouped into three basic IS functions:

• Systems development
• Operations
• Technical services

16. Structure of Information Resource Management

Modern computer-based information systems can support either the centralization or decentralization of information systems operations and decision-making within computer-using organizations.

Centralized computer facilities:

(i) Can connect all parts of an organization by telecommunications networks to allow top management to centralize decision making formerly done by lower levels of management.

(ii) Can promote centralization of operations, which reduces the number of branch offices, manufacturing plants, warehouses, and other work sites needed by the firm.

Decentralized computer facilities:

(i) Distributed networks of computers at multiple work sites can allow top management to delegate more decision making to middle managers.

(ii) Management can decentralize operations by increasing the number of branch offices while still having access to the information and communications capabilities they need to control the overall direction of the organization.

Information technology can encourage either the centralization or decentralization of information systems, business operations, and management.

A firm’s organizational structure and information systems architecture are influenced by:

• The philosophy of top management
• The culture of the organization
• The need to reengineer its operations

4. The use of aggressive or conservative competitive strategies

Changing Trends:

Companies continue to use a variety of organizational arrangements for the delivery of information services. Some of the changing trends include:

• In the early years of computing, when computers could barely handle a single department’s workload, decentralization was the only option.
• The development of large mainframe computers, telecommunications, and terminals caused a centralization of computer hardware, software, databases, and IS specialists at the corporate level of organizations.
• The development of minicomputers and microcomputers accelerated a downsizing trend back toward decentralization. Distributed client/server networks at the corporate, department, workgroup, and team levels came into being. This prompted a shift of databases and information specialists to some departments, and the creation of information centres to support end user computing.
• Lately, the trend has been to establish tighter control over the information resources of an organization, while still serving the strategic needs of its business units. This has resulted in a centralizing trend at some organizations, and the development of hybrid structures with both centralized and decentralized components at others.
• Some organizations have spun off there is functions into IS subsidiaries that offer information processing services to extended organizations as well as to their parent company.
• Some organizations have resorted to outsourcing, that is, turned over all or part of there is operations to outside contractors known as system integrators or facilities management companies.

Managing Systems Development:

Systems development management means managing activities such as systems analysis and design, prototyping, applications programming, project management, quality assurance, and system maintenance for all major business/IT development projects. Planning, organizing, and controlling the systems development function of an information services department is a major managerial responsibility. It requires managing the activities of teams of systems analysts, programmers, and end users working on a variety of information systems development projects. In addition, some systems development groups have established development centres, staffed with consultants to the professional programmers and systems analysts in their organizations.

Managing IS Operations:

IS operations management is concerned with the use of hardware, software, network, and personnel resources in the corporate or business unit data centres (computer centres) of an organization. Operational activities that must be managed include data entry, equipment operations, production control, and production support.

Many operations management activities are being automated by the use of software packages for computer system performance management. These

system performance monitors

• Monitor the process of computer jobs
• Helps develop a planned schedule of computer operations that can optimize computer system performance
• Produce detailed statistics that are invaluable for effective planning and control of computer capacity.
• Supply information needed by chargeback systems, that allocate costs to users based on the information services rendered.
• Process control capabilities which monitor and control computer operations at large data centres.

13-6 Resource Management

Data and information, hardware and software, telecommunications networks, and IS personnel are valuable resources that should be managed for the benefit of the entire organization.

Human Resource Management of IT

The success or failure of an information services organization rests heavily on the quality of its people. Managing information services functions involves the management of managerial, technical, and clerical personnel. One of the most important jobs of information service managers is to recruit qualified personnel and to develop, organize, and direct the capabilities of existing personnel. For example:

• Employees must be continually trained to keep up with the latest developments in a fast-moving and highly technical field.
• Employee job performance must be continually evaluated and outstanding performances rewarded with salary increases or promotions.
• Salary and wage levels must be set, and career paths must be designed so individuals can move to new jobs through promotion and transfer as they gain in seniority and expertise.

Careers in Information Systems:

Computers and their use in information systems have created interesting, highly-paid, and challenging career opportunities for millions of men and women. Employment opportunities in the field of computers and information technology are excellent, as organizations continue to expand their use of information technology.

13-7  Technology Management

All technologies that process, store, and deliver data and information throughout the enterprise must be managed as integrated systems of organizational resources. Such technologies include the Internet, intranets, and electronic commerce and collaboration systems, as well as traditional computer-based information processing. These “islands of technology” are bridged by IRM and become a primary responsibility of the CIO, since he is in charge of all information technology services.

Network Management:

The rapid growth of the Internet, intranets, extranets, and client/server networks has made network management a major technology management function. This function is responsible for managing a company’s Internet access, intranets and extranets, and the wide area networks and interconnected local area networks of client/server computing. These networks require:

1. The major commitment of hardware and software resources.
2. The creation of managerial and staff positions to manager their use.

Network management is responsible for overseeing the quality of all the telecommunications services that most businesses rely on today.

Network managers:

• Are usually responsible for evaluating and recommending the acquisition of Internet service providers, Internet and intranet servers and web browser suites, and communications hardware and software for workgroup and corporate client/server networks.
• Work with business unit manager to improve the design, operational quality,and security of t he organization’s telecommunications networks and servers.
• Monitor and evaluate Internet, intranet, and other network usage, telecommunications processors, network control software, and other network hardware and software resources to ensure a proper level of service to the users of a network.

Advanced Technology Management:

Developments in information systems technology have had, and will continue to have, a major impact on the operations, costs, management work environment, and competitive position of many organizations. Therefore, many firms established separate groups (advanced technology groups – ATGs) to identify, introduce, and monitor the assimilation of new information systems technologies into their organizations, especially those with a high payoff potential. These organizational units are called technology management, emerging technologies, or advanced technology groups.

13-8 Distributed Management

Responsibility for managing information technology is increasingly being distributed to the managers of an organization at all levels and in all functions. Information resource management is not just the responsibility of an organization’s CIO. If you’re a manager, IRM is one of your responsibilities, whether you are a manager of a company, a department, a workgroup, or a functional area. This is especially true as the Internet, intranets, and client/server networks drive the responsibility for managing information systems out to all of an organization’s functional and workgroup managers.

Managerial End User Computing:

The number of end users in organizations who use computers to help them do their jobs has outstripped the capacity of many information services departments. As a result, teams and workgroups of end users must use PC workstations, software packages, and the Internet, intranets, and other networks to develop and apply information technology to their work activities. Organizations have responded by:

1. Creating end user services, or client services, function to support and manage end users.
2. Establish an information centres group staffed with user liaison specialists, or “help desks,” with end user “hot-lines”.
3. Distributed end user support specialities to departments and other work groups.
4. Establish and enforce policies concerning the acquisition of hardware and software by end users. This ensures their compatibility with existing hardware and software systems, and network connectivity standards. Policies ensure that proper controls are enforced to correct performance and safeguard the integrity of corporate and departmental networks and databases.

Managing Internet Access:

Managing Internet access within organizations is a major new management responsibility. Providing Internet access to employees raises several challenging managerial issues. Examples include:

• Heavy Internet use by employees can overrun the capacity of client/server networks. Many networks were not designed to handle the large network loads generated by World Wide Web multimedia traffic and other Internet uses.
• Questions concerning legitimate work time use of the Internet by employees, and liability for the contents of employee E-mail on the Net.

Exhibit I : Information Systems at Amazon

In 1995 Amazon used website system and order fulfillment system separately in order to improve security. By 1995 amazon has huge database running on Digital Alpha Servers. Amazon renovated the entire system in the year of 2000. Company spent $200 million on the new system. These systems include analysis software from “Epiphany”, logistics from “manugistics” and new DBMS from oracle. (Gerald, 2012) For communication with supplies amazon seal deal with Excelon for business-to-business integration system. (Konicki, 2000) . Amazon Web Service (AWS) and Simple Storage Service (SS) are the main system developed by amazon. Through this system amazon can maintain its vast number of products and millions of active customers. Amazon web service has become a global platform for individual to retailers to sell their products. Through reliable, Scalable, and robust web service amazon creates a global domination. The challenges of amazon.com web services are very prominent. Every second thousands of customers are searching. For products and ordering products, the systems have to be fast, reliable and secured. Every second CRM (Customer Relation Management) system is taking customer information though their searching, data mining, wish list and so on. Whatever customer buys or not they are providing information about them. Systems are smart enough to analysis the information and provide service accordingly. For tracking fraudsters amazon.com built a system known as SAS( Smart Analysis Search).This system decrease and detect fraud in the web site by analyzing behavioral pattern. SAS allows amazon.com to measure and personalize customer and help to serve customer effectively. (Kantardzic, 2003) Amazon.com is information system based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). SOA is fully distributed and decentralized service platform enables amazon‟s information system to be robust and scalable. SOA concentrates in multiple application rather than bigger process (Source: Al Imran, 2014)

Summary

Information Resource Management aims to identify information as an asset that could be processes and manageable. It requires process and system knowledge, communication and technical expertise. The major users of Information are knowledge workers (Middle level and top level managers) who create and process information. The use of such information could be for broader usage including policy/ action plan formulation, resource optimization (land, labor, capital, technology, material etc).

Centralized or Decentralized Information System- Modern computer-based information systems can support either the centralization or decentralization of information systems operations and decision-making within computer- using organizations.

Chargeback Systems- Methods of allocating costs to end user departments based on the information service rendered and information system resources utilized.

Chief Information Officer – A senior management position that oversees all information technology for a firm, concentrating on long-range information system planning and strategy.

Culture, Political, and Geo-economics Challenges: Differences in customs, governmental, regulations, and the cost of living in different countries.

Data Centre- An organizational unit which uses centralized computing resources to perform information processing activities for an organization. Also known as a computer centre.

Development Centre- Systems development consultant groups formed to serve as consultants to the professional programmers and systems analysts of an organization to improve their application development efforts.

Downsizing – Many organizations are downsizing from the use of large computer systems to networks of small computers.

End User Services- Consulting and training services provided to end users in an organization

Global Business Drivers – These include global customers, products, operations, resources, and collaboration.

Global Information Technology– The use of computer-based information systems and telecommunications networks using a variety of information technologies to support global business operations and management

Global IT Management- Dimensions of global IT management include: 1) Business IT Strategies, 2) Application Portfolios, 3) Technology Platforms, 4) Data Management, and 5) Systems Development.

Information Resource Management (IRM)- A management concept that views data, information, and computer resources (computer hardware, software, and personnel) as valuable organizational resources that should be efficiently, economically, and effectively managed for the benefit of the entire organization.

Five Dimension of IRM- The five dimensions of IRM include: 1) Strategic management, 2) Resource management, 3) Functional management, 4) Technology management, 5) Distributed management

Information Services Functions- Includes systems development, operations, and technical services

Information Systems Performance- Managers must ensure that IT is being effectively, efficiently, and economically in their organizations

Management Involvement- The experiences of successful organizations reveal that the basic ingredient of high quality information systems performance is extensive and meaningful management involvement.

Systems Development Management Managing systems development requires the planning, organizing, and controlling of systems analysis, programming, and end user activities related to various IS development projects, and thus requires a project management effort.

Technology Management- The establishment of organizational groups to identify, introduces, and monitors the assimilation of new information system technologies into organizations.

Telecommunications Network Management– The management of development, administration, and maintenance of telecommunications networks and their hardware and software.

Transborder Data Flows-The flow of business data over telecommunications networks across international borders.

Transnational Strategy– A management approach in which an organization integrates its global business activities through close cooperation and interdependence among its headquarters operations and international subsidiaries, and its use of appropriate global information technologies.

References

• Weill & M. Broadbent “Leveraging the New Infrastructure: How Market Leaders Capitalize on IT” , Harvard Business School Press, May 1998. (Based on a study of 54 businesses in 7 countries over five years).