INFORMATION SHARING SYSTEM
I. Background
Information systems are both technical and social in nature. Managers must understand the relationship between the technical components of an information system and the structure, functions and work culture of. Builders of information systems should consider management objectives and decision-making as well as the impact these systems will have on the well being of the people and society. In this chapter places information systems have to be placed in the context of organizational needs at various levels of management.
II. Information System
An information system can be defined technically as a set of interrelated component that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization. In addition to supporting decision making, coordination, and control, information system may also help managers and workers analyze problems, visualize complex subjects, and create new product.
Information systems contain information about significant people, places and things within the organization or the environment surrounding it. By information we mean data that have been shaped into a form that is meaningful and useful to human beings.
Data, in contrast, are streams or raw facts representing events occurring in organizations or the physical environment before they have been organized and arranged into a form that people can understand and use.
Three activities constitute an information system to meet organizational needs for making decisions, controlling operations, analyzing problems, and creating new product and services. These activities are input, processing and output.
- Input captures or collects raw data from within the organization or from its external environment.
- Processing converts this raw input into a more meaningful form.
- Output transfers the processed information to the people