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Running Head: ISSUES IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

ISSUES IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

1. INNOVATIVE INFORMATION SYSTEM

Every organisation should not deploy innovative information systems without looking at the

value it adds to it. In some organizations, the value of the innovation may not be worth the cost

of deployment.

a. While deploying innovative information system, an organization needs to have the

following characteristics (Information Resources Management Association, 2011):

i. Having a working current information system

ii. Be compatible with the innovative technology

iii. Have the resources and time to pilot-test the system and see the project

through

iv. Ability to build scalable architecture

v. An organizational culture of supporting the organizations architecture

b. Some examples of disruptive information that became successful include:

i. The success of the transistor radio in displacing the analogue radio from

the market

ii. Digital photography which displaced traditional instant photography

iii. Personal computers replacing workstations

iv. LCD TVs replacing CRT

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1. INFORMATION SYSTEMS INVESTMENT DECISION MAKING

a. The following three situations highlight different perspectives of information systems

investment decision making:

i. Where a company information system has been hacked exposing personal and

business secrets. Due to the fear elicited by this situation, a company may decide to

adopt new technology to boost security.

ii. Suppose there is a new startup in the area and it is employing cloud technology

which provides a competitive advantage. It is a fact that technology has improve

their performance and therefore the company may decide to also adopt this

technology.

iii. Suppose there is a change in management and the new CEO is from a company

with a culture of employing new technology. The CEO will aim to bring his belief

in technology to the new company.

b. Organizations adopt innovations to meet certain business objectives. However, the

decision to invest in innovative systems is usually motivated by a number of factors.

These factors include:

i. Fear- Suppose a company decides to adopt a new technology that increases

productivity and efficiency. There is a possibility that some employees will fear

being rendered redundant by the new technology, and thus resist the intended

change.

ii. Fact- It is a fact that cost reduction is primary to business success. As such,

companies will invest in cost reducing and efficiency improving systems to make

profits.
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iii. Faith- Past experience with technology may influence the decision of an

organization. People unconsciously associate technology with success. This kind

of belief may affect their decision to invest in technology.

2. BROADBAND PENETRATION IN THE US

a. Up-to-date statistics

Looking at the 2015 Broadband Progress Report adopted by the Federal Communications

Commission (FCC), only 67% of the Americans have adopted broadband connectivity (FCC,

2015). This value is a slight drop from 70% in 2013. According to the report, 17% of American

households (55 million individuals) lacked access to advanced broadband which stands at

25Mbps/3 Mbps service as updated by the FCC (FCC, 2015). Roughly 53% of the rural

Americans lack access to the advanced connectivity as compared to the 8% living in the urban

areas (FCC, 2015). In the education sector, approximately 35% of schools lack access to fiber

network thus the FCC presumes that they are less likely to access broadband (FCC, 2015).

b. Interpret these numbers

There is a digital divide between rural and urban areas. This situation can be attributed to the

geographical location and the cost implications of spreading connectivity to these areas.

Additionally, there is a direct correlation between internet connection and household income. In

the rural areas, the population density is high leading to inadequate income thus translating to

low connectivity.

c. Project into 5 and 10 years in the future

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ISSUES IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT

Today, businesses are becoming more innovative, more flexible, and ready to adopt

technological advancements to succeed. ICT is becoming the cornerstone of business growth and

job creation. The dependency on internet connectivity is also high. As such, there is massive

investment by the private sector into broadband infrastructure. It is projected that in 5 to 10

years, advanced network infrastructure that supports business growth and adapts to changing

dynamics will be adopted in the future. The divide between the rural and urban connectivity will

reduce if not be eliminated. All households and schools will have connectivity.

3. DATA MARTS

A data Mart is a subset of a data warehouse that is designed to serve a single functional area.

a) There are two main types of data marts; dependent and independent data marts. A

dependent data mart is a top-down data approach that relies on the enterprises already

established data warehouse. On the other hand, an Independent data mart is a bottom-up

data approach that is established without reliance on the central data warehouse. By

implementing data marts, the company stands to benefit from the lower costs of

establishing an independent data mart than implementing a full data warehouse. The

regional managers will benefit from the improved response time when processing

transactions and the simplicity of understanding and enhancing the system over time

since it is based on a single subject. Therefore, I propose the following data marts: sales

data mart, deliveries data mart, inventory data mart, and region data mart.

b) The following data should be stored in each of the data marts. For the sales data mart,

data on customer, sales, products and orders is required. For deliveries data mart, the data

needed is on products, orders, store location, suppliers, and delivery data. An inventory
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data mart will consider data on suppliers, orders, products, and store locations. A region

data mart should deal with data on store locations, purchases, supplies and staff in each

region. The regional manager can use this information to track performance of the

various regions and compare which is doing better. They can also monitor the sales,

inventory and deliveries in the company and compare sales margins, profits, and costs

incurred in purchasing and supplies.

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References

FCC,. (2015). 2015 Broadband Progress Report. Federal Communications Commission.

Retrieved 16 January 2017, from

https://www.fcc.gov/reports-research/reports/broadband-progress-reports/2015-

broadband-progress-report.

Information Resources Management Association (2011). Enterprise information systems (1st

ed.). Hershey: Business Science Reference.