Information System considering as Work System

Essay on computer concept

Submitted to:
Sir ZUBAIR AHMAD
Submitted by:
Iram Aslam
Roll no:
MBE-09-11

MBA (EVENING) 2nd

INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

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 Information System considering as Work System

Information System considering as Work

System

Abstract
In this essay I discuss about information system as well as work system. The relation of
information system and information technology is defined. How information system is a system
not a tool. How work system is necessary for every organization in current scenario. How large
and successful organizations using work system in their work. I also discuss how we consider
information system as a work system and how efficient it is in business. How organizations can
use information system to improve their work system. In this manner an organization can be
more efficient.

Introduction
I discuss different definitions of information system according to different persons. How
information system can use as a work system and how efficient this work system can be. How
we can use these system in various organizations works like recruitment procedure, buying raw
material, attract and invite customers for buying the goods and also for delivery purpose.
(McLeod 2007)

we cannot use it as a tool because it is a system which is according to requirements of customers

and provide satisfaction to them.(Alter 2004). The relation between IT and IS is also discussed.

Information system
“A system that exists in any system that is capable of governing itself (autonomous system). The
information system (IS) assures the communication between the managerial and operational sub-
systems of an organization – that’s its purpose. When this communication is asynchronous, a
memory to store the messages is necessary”. (Alter 1999b)

A system that contains active objects and deals with the information is called Information
system (IS). (Alter 2003)

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 Information System considering as Work System

Information system has different definitions because it is not possible to describe it in a single
way. So it has many definitions differ from the upper definitions. Some of them are given bellow
according to different writers.

“An information system is a social system, which has embedded in it information technology.
The extent to which information technology plays a part is increasing rapidly. But this does not
prevent the overall system from being a social system, and it is not possible to design a robust,
effective information system, incorporating significant amounts of the technology without
treating it as a social system.”(F. Land 1985)

The simplest definition of (IS) is that it is a system of organizations that provides information
and gives communication services by the organization. (Davis 2000)

Defining an Information System as a Work System

The definition of an information system is based on work system. Every kind of Businesses
needs it. Now a day you cannot think about a business without work system. Work system gives
a lot of sport to every kind of Businesses. All business organizations use work systems to take
their raw materials from suppliers, manufacture their different goods and services, large and
efficient organizations start using work system for delivery procedure. Also to invite customers
to buying, some time for hiring employees, to pay their payments, and perform many other
functions.

A work system is a system in which human participants and/or machines perform work
(processes and activities) using information, technology, and other resources to produce specific
products and/or services for specific internal or external customers

An information system is a work system whose processes and activities are devoted to
processing information, i.e., capturing, transmitting, and storing, retrieving, manipulating, and
displaying information. . Alter (2007b)

Thus, an information system is a system in which human participants and/or machines perform
work (processes and activities) using information, technology, and other resources to produce
informational products and/or services for internal or external customers.

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 Information System considering as Work System

Examples
Examples of information systems include work systems devoted to generating corporate plans,
creating computer programs, generating financial statements, creating digital products such as
software and electronic games, performing economic analysis, writing music, rebalancing stock
portfolios, and determining prices of airline seats based on complex yield management
calculations.

Differentiation between IS and IT

Many authors have expressed concerns about the common blurring of IS and IT, which is
clarified by defining IS as a special case of work system. Technology and infrastructure are
elements of the work system framework. The definition implies that a computer is not an
information system because a computer does not produce specific products and services for
specific customers. Similarly, word processing programs and suites of software such as ERP
products are not information systems. Rather, depending on the purpose of the analysis, they
should be treated either as part of the technology within a specific information system or as part
of the technical infrastructure shared among multiple information systems.

Treatment of IS as a system, rather than a tool

IS is actually a system not just the tool. But many of our people treat it as a tool. There is a
great difference in our ideas and views are about tools, not systems. Alter For example, our basic
vocabulary accepts that IT groups provide tools and IT group’s “users” uses them. Same is the
case with the concepts about IS success imply that a tool’s success is depend on the impacts and
the specifications and also how properly it is used. Whether the system mostly refers to
developing software tools that according to the requirements of the users and level of satisfaction
of users, rather than developing or modifying a work system in an organization. (Alter 2004). So
now it is very much clear that Information System is not a tool. It is a complete system and
having many tools like IT.

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 Information System considering as Work System

Scope
Good definitions cover the scope of the area of interest and do not overlook important
phenomena and issues. Aside from clarifying what is and is not an information system, the
proposed definition is broadly inclusive and can be associated directly with most of the subject
matter of the IS field. In contrast, some of the other definitions of IS are basically about
computer systems, traditional organizational control systems, or organizations in general. Such
definitions do little to include various types of information systems that may not have been
important in the past but are important today.

Scope of the IS field

).So the information system has a broder scope.because it covers many fields. It is a work system
in fact and the tecnology is very much fast now a days than the last few years.every organization
need the efficient work system to take their raw materials from suppliers, manufacture their
different goods and services, large and efficient organizations start using work system for
delivery procedure. Also to invite customers for buying, some time for hiring employees, to pay
their payments, and perform many other functions. (Alter 2007)

Inclusion of a range of situations

Although a very detailed look at the elements of the work system framework is beyond this
paper’s scope, even a brief look at the elements illustrates the wide range of situation range is
covered by the definition of IS. So it has still a very vast system having a lot of categories in it.
IS information system has a wide range of elements that it has illustrated. This all is defined by
the definition of information system
Customers

May include both internal and external customers who may be viewed as recipients of whatever
the IS produces or as co-producers of value in self-service situations.

Products and services

May be produced by an information system, and different groups of customers may benefit from
offerings of different products and services.

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 Information System considering as Work System

Processes and activities

Cover much more than totally structured processes that appear in some IS definitions as
“procedures.” As happens in collaboration systems and many other situations, various processes
and activities performed by participants may be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured.

Participants
Include both IT users and non-users, thereby emphasizing that the relevant participants are
people who do some of the work, not just people who use IT.

Information

Includes codified and non-codified information used and created as participants perform their
work. it gives detailed information about the performance of the participants whether it has
improved or not.

Technologies
Include IT and other technologies that should not be categorized as IT even if it contains
embedded IT applications. It not only gives information about IT but also provides information
about other technologies.

Infrastructure

Includes relevant human, information, and technical resources that are managed outside of the
work system (or information system) and are shared with other work systems.

Environment
Includes the relevant organizational, cultural, competitive, technical, and regulatory environment
within which the work system operates, thereby recognizing that an information system’s
success depends partly on surrounding factors that are not part of the information system.

Strategies
Of the work system and/or organization help in understanding any work system but may or may
not be articulated.

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 Information System considering as Work System

Explaining the incoherence of the IS field

A conjecture in the 2005 Sysperanto paper mentioned earlier may explain some of the
difficulties underlying the “identity crisis” of the IS discipline. Information systems as a category
include transaction processing systems, MIS, DSS, CAD systems, e-commerce web sites, expert
systems, group support system, communication systems, and many other types of IS. Worth
considering, but not fundamental to the structure of Sysperanto, is the conjecture that the various
types of information systems differ so greatly in form and function that information systems in
general possess few concepts in common beyond those inherited from work systems in general.
(Bastrom 1997)

Conclusion
I discuss that information system is a system not a tool. It is efficient work system also.
Organizations can earn more profit and give more satisfaction to their customers by using
information system as a work system due to efficiency and realiability of this work system. This
work system will be the future of business.

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 Information System considering as Work System

References

Alter, S. (2004) “Desperately Seeking Systems Thinking in the IS Discipline,” Proceedings of

ICIS-25, the International Conference on Information Systems, Washington, DC, December
2004, pp. 757-769.

DeLone, W.H. and E.R. McLean (2003) “The DeLone and McLean Model of Information
Systems Success,” Journal of Management Information Systems 19(4), pp. 9-30.

Alter, S. (1999b) Information Systems: A Management Perspective, 3rd ed., Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.

Alter, S. (2003) “18 Reasons Why IT-Reliant Work Systems Should Replace ‘The IT Artifact’
as the Core Subject Matter of the IS Field,” Communications of the Association for Information
System

Davis, G.B. (2000) “Information Systems Conceptual Foundations: Looking Backward and
Forward, pp. 61- 82 in R. Baskerville, J. Stage, and J.I. DeGross, eds., Organizational and
Social Perspectives on Information Technology, Springer

Alter, S. (2007b) “Pitfalls in Analyzing Systems in Organizations” Journal of Information

System Education, 17(3), Fall 2006, pp. 295-302.

Ackoff, R.L. (1993) Presentation at the Systems Thinking in Action Conference, Cambridge,
MA, cited by Silver, M., M.L Markus, and C.M. Beath, (1995) “The Information Technology
Interaction Model:

Alter, S. (2003b) “Sidestepping the IT Artifact, Scrapping the IS Silo, and Laying Claim to
‘Systems in Organizations,’” Communications of the Association for Information Systems,
12(30), November,

Hirschheim, R. and H.K. Klein (2003) “Crisis in the IS Field? A Critical Reflection on the State
of the Discipline,” Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 4(5), pp. 237-293.

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 Information System considering as Work System

Bostrom, R.P. and J.S. Heinen, (1977a) “MIS Problems and Failures: A Socio-Technical
Perspective. PART I: The Causes.” MIS Quarterly, 1(3), December 1977, pp. 17-32.

Alter, S. (2007c) “Customer-Centric Systems: A Multi-Dimensional View,” Proceedings of WeB

2007, Sixth Workshop on e Business, Dec. 9, Montreal, Canada, pp. 130-141.