ITM501 Module 1 Case
ITM 501- Management Information Systems and Business Strategy
Module 1
Case
Information networking as technology: tools, uses, and socio-technical interactions
Are organizations likely to find better solutions to information overload through changes to their technical systems or their social systems? – or both? Why? Any organization whether large or small will find better solutions to information overload through effective use of it’s social systems. There is no doubt in my mind that technical systems combined with social systems can adapt, overcome and exceed any organizational goal but I believe that the latter has a slight advantage. When consumers search for a product, some of them will do the appropriate research while the majority will rely on the employees of that particular store where the product is sold to educate them and ultimately sell them on it. For the folks who decide to do their own research, a quick Google search can easily turn into an information overload due to the massive amounts of references available today. The fast paced lives most Americans live make it an easy decision to not conduct ones own research. If companies like Best Buy and Target had branches without employees and only self-checkout registers their products would still be sold. However, with the added bonus of subject matter experts working in each department, this creates a smoother transaction for the customer. In this scenario the customer has less work to do to achieve the same end result…merchandise. Without the employees, the customer is left with a variety of products, which they have to decipher, which is best suited to their needs. The presence of employees eliminates the customer from thinking on their own. The employees take the data received from the products they sell and turn it into information they can explain to the customer who in turn uses this to make wise decisions based on their needs of any product. When a customer
Module 1
Case
Information networking as technology: tools, uses, and socio-technical interactions
Are organizations likely to find better solutions to information overload through changes to their technical systems or their social systems? – or both? Why? Any organization whether large or small will find better solutions to information overload through effective use of it’s social systems. There is no doubt in my mind that technical systems combined with social systems can adapt, overcome and exceed any organizational goal but I believe that the latter has a slight advantage. When consumers search for a product, some of them will do the appropriate research while the majority will rely on the employees of that particular store where the product is sold to educate them and ultimately sell them on it. For the folks who decide to do their own research, a quick Google search can easily turn into an information overload due to the massive amounts of references available today. The fast paced lives most Americans live make it an easy decision to not conduct ones own research. If companies like Best Buy and Target had branches without employees and only self-checkout registers their products would still be sold. However, with the added bonus of subject matter experts working in each department, this creates a smoother transaction for the customer. In this scenario the customer has less work to do to achieve the same end result…merchandise. Without the employees, the customer is left with a variety of products, which they have to decipher, which is best suited to their needs. The presence of employees eliminates the customer from thinking on their own. The employees take the data received from the products they sell and turn it into information they can explain to the customer who in turn uses this to make wise decisions based on their needs of any product. When a customer
References: Bellinger, G., Castro, D., & Mills, A. (2004) Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom. The Way of Systems. November 15, 2010 from http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm Green, P. (2010 ) Social Media Is Challenging Notions of the Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom (DIKW) Hierarchy. CMS Wire. August 16. Retrieved November 25, 2010 from http://www.cmswire.com/cms/enterprise-20/social-media-is-challenging-notions-of-the-data-information-knowledge-wisdom-dikw-hierarchy--008320.php Liu, X. and Errey, C. (2006) Socio-technical systems - there 's more to performance than new technology. PTG Global. Retrieved February 27, 2011, from http://www.ptg-global.com/PDFArticles/Socio%20technical%20systems%20-%20There 's%20more%20to%20performance%20than%20new%20technology%20v1.0.pdf