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 MIS Essentials

Fourth Edition

David M. Kroenke

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To C.J., Carter, and Charlotte
Contents Overview

MIS Essentials offers basic topic coverage of MIS in its 12 chapters and more in-depth,
expanded coverage in its two chapter extensions. This modular organization allows you to pick
and choose among those topics. You will preserve continuity if you use each of the 12 chapters
in sequence.

Part 1 Why MIS?

Chapter 1 The Importance of MIS 3
Chapter 2 Business Processes, Information Systems, and Information 25
Chapter 3 Organizational Strategy, Information Systems, and Competitive Advantage 51

Part 2 Information Technology

Chapter 4 Hardware and Software 79
Chapter 5 Database Processing 111
Chapter 6 The Cloud 139

Part 3 Using IS for Competitive

Advantage
Chapter 7 Organizations and Information Systems 167
Chapter 8 Social Media Information Systems 195
Chapter 9 Business Intelligence Systems 225

x
Part 4 Information Systems
Management
Chapter 10 Information Systems Development 259
Chapter 11 Information Systems Management 287
Chapter 12 Information Security Management 313

Chapter Extensions
CE1 Collaboration Information Systems for Decision Making, Problem Solving,
and Project Management 347
CE2 Collaborative Information Systems for Student Projects 360

xi
Contents

To the Student xviii 2. How Can Business Process Modeling Help

About the Author xix AllRoad? 27
How AllRoad Works 27
The Existing AllRoad Process 28
How AllRoad Processes Must Change to Support 3D
Part 1 Why MIS? Printing 30
3. How Can Information Systems Improve Process
This Could Happen to You 1
Quality? 31
What Is Process Quality? 31
Chapter 1: The Importance Using Information Systems to Improve Process
of MIS  3 Quality 33
4. What Is Information? 34
This Could Happen to You 3
Definitions Vary 35
1. Why Is Introduction to MIS the Most Important Class
Where Is Information? 35
in the Business School? 5
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 2: How Much Is a
What Are Cost-Effective Business Applications of
Quarter Worth? 36
Facebook, Twitter, and Whatever Will Soon Appear? 6
5. What Data Characteristics Are Necessary for Quality
How Can I Attain Job Security? 6
Information? 37
How Can Intro to MIS Help You Learn Nonroutine Skills? 7
Accurate 37
Jobs 8
Timely 37
What Is the Bottom Line? 10
Relevant 38
2. What Is an Information System? 10
Just Barely Sufficient 38
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 1: Information Systems
Worth Its Cost 38
and Online Dating 11
How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 39
3. What Is MIS? 12
Ethics Guide: I Know What’s Better, Really 40
Management and Use of Information Systems 12
Achieving Strategies 12 Guide: Understanding Perspectives and Points of
View 42
4. Why Is the Difference Between Information Technology
and Information Systems Important to You? 13 Case Study 2: Eating Our Own Dog Food 47
5. What Is Your Role in IS Security? 14
Strong Passwords 14 Chapter 3: Organizational
Password Etiquette 15 Strategy, Information
How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 15 Systems, and Competitive
Ethics Guide: Ethics and Professional Responsibility 16 Advantage 51
Guide: Five-Component Careers 18 This Could Happen to You 51
Case Study 1: The Amazon of Innovation 22 1. How Does Organizational Strategy Determine
Information Systems Requirements? 53
Chapter 2: Business Processes, 2. What Five Forces Determine Industry
Information Systems, and Structure? 53
Information 25
3. What Is Competitive Strategy? 55
This Could Happen to You 25 4. How Does Competitive Strategy Determine Value
1. Why Does the AllRoad Team Need to Understand Chain Structure? 56
Business Processes? 27 Primary Activities in the Value Chain 57

xii
 Support Activities in the Value Chain 58
Value Chain Linkages 58
5. How Do Value Chains Determine Business Processes
and Information Systems? 58
6. How Do Information Systems Provide Competitive
Advantages? 60
Competitive Advantage via Products 60
Competitive Advantage via Business Processes 60
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 3: Competitive Strategy
Over the Web 61
How Does an Actual Company Use IS to Create
Competitive Advantages? 62
How Does This System Create a Competitive
Advantage? 64
3. What Do Business Professionals Need to Know
About Applications Software? 91
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 4: Place Your Bets Now! 92
How Do Organizations Acquire Application Software? 94
What Is Firmware? 96
4. Is Open Source Software a Viable Alternative? 97
Why Do Programmers Volunteer Their Services? 97
How Does Open Source Work? 98
So, Is Open Source Viable? 99
How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 99
Ethics Guide: Showrooming: The Consequences 100
Guide: “Because It’s Where the Money Is . . .” 102
Case Study 4: The Apple of Your i 107

How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 65

Chapter 5: Database
Ethics Guide: Yikes! Bikes 66 Processing 111
Guide: Your Personal Competitive Advantage 68
This Could Happen to You 111
Case Study 3: BOSU ® Balance Trainer 73
1. What Is the Purpose of a Database? 113
2. What Is a Database? 114
Relationships Among Rows 115
Part 2 Information Metadata 116
3. What Is a Database Management System
Technology (DBMS)? 117
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 5: How Much Is a
This Could Happen to You 77 Database Worth? 118
4. How Do Database Applications Make Databases
Chapter 4: Hardware and More Useful? 121
Software 79 Traditional Forms, Queries, Reports, and Applications 121
Thin-Client Forms, Reports, Queries, and Applications 123
This Could Happen to You 79 Multi-User Processing 125
1. What Do Business Professionals Need to Know 5. What Is a NoSQL DBMS? 126
About Computer Hardware? 81 Need to Store New Data Types 126
Basic Components 81 Need for Faster Processing Using Many Servers 127
Computer Data 82 Will NoSQL Replace Relational DBMS Products? 127
In Fewer than 300 Words, How Does a Computer NoSQL’s Impact on the DBMS Product Market 128
Work? 83 What Do Nonrelational DBMS Mean for You? 128
Why Does a Business Professional Care How a Computer
How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter
Works? 84
Help You? 129
What Is the Difference Between a Client and a Server? 85
Ethics Guide: Querying Inequality? 130
2. What Do Business Professionals Need to Know
About Operating Systems Software? 86 Guide: No, Thanks, I’ll Use a Spreadsheet 132
What Are the Major Operating Systems? 87 Case Study 5: Fail Away with Dynamo, Bigtable,
Virtualization 89 and Cassandra 137

xiii
xiv Contents
Chapter 6: the Cloud 139
This Could Happen to You 139
1. Why Is the Cloud the Future for Most
Organizations? 141
What Is the Cloud? 141
Why Is the Cloud Preferred to In-House Hosting? 143
Why Now? 144
When Does the Cloud Not Make Sense? 145
2. How Do Organizations Use the Cloud? 145
Cloud Services from Cloud Vendors 145
Content Delivery Networks from Cloud Vendors 146
Use Web Services Internally 147
3. How Can AllRoad Parts Use the Cloud? 148
SaaS Services at AllRoad 148
PaaS Services at AllRoad 148
IaaS Services at AllRoad 149
4. How Can Organizations Use Cloud Services
Securely? 149
Virtual Private Network (VPN) 149
Using a Private Cloud 150
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 6: What, Exactly, Does
That Standard Mean? 152
Using a Virtual Private Cloud 152
5. What Does the Cloud Mean for Your Future? 153
How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 155
Ethics Guide: Cloudy Profit? 156
Guide: You Said What? About Me? In Class? 158
Case Study 6: FinQloud Forever . . .Well, at Least for the
Required Interval . . . 162
Part 3 Using IS for
Competitive Advantage
This Could Happen to You 165
Chapter 7: Organizations and
Information Systems 167
This Could Happen to You 167
1. How Do Information Systems Vary by Scope? 169
Personal Information Systems 169
Workgroup Information Systems 169
Enterprise Information Systems 170
Inter-Enterprise Information Systems 170
2. How Do Enterprise Systems Solve the Problems of
Departmental Silos? 170
What Are the Problems of Information Silos? 171
How Do Organizations Solve the Problems of Information
Silos? 173
An Enterprise System for Patient Discharge 173
Business Process Reengineering 174
3. How Do CRM, ERP, and EAI Support Enterprise
Systems? 175
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) 175
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 7: Choosing a CRM
Product 177
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) 178
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) 179
What Are the Challenges When Implementing and
Upgrading Enterprise Systems? 180
4. How Do Inter-Enterprise IS Solve the Problems of
Enterprise Silos? 181
How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 183
Ethics Guide: Dialing for Dollars 184
Guide: The Flavor-of-the-Month Club 186
Case Study 7: Using the PRIDE Database 191
Chapter 8: Social Media
Information Systems 195
This Could Happen to You 195
1. What Is a Social Media Information System
(SMIS)? 197
Three SMIS Roles 197
SMIS Components 200
2. How Do SMIS Advance Organizational Strategy? 202
Social Media and the Sales and Marketing Activity 203
Social Media and Customer Service 204
Social Media and Inbound and Outbound Logistics 205
Social Media and Manufacturing and Operations 205
Social Media and Human Resources 206
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 8: Any Other Kayakers
Here at the Grand Canyon? 207
3. How Do SMIS Increase Social Capital? 207
What Is the Value of Social Capital? 208
How Do Social Networks Add Value to Businesses? 208
Using Social Networking to Increase the Number of
Relationships 209
Using Social Networks to Increase the Strength of
Relationships 210
Connecting to Those with More Assets 210
4. How Can Organizations Manage the Risks of Social
Media? 211
Managing the Risk of Employee Communication 211
Managing the Risk of User-Generated Content 212
5. Where Is Social Media Taking Us? 214
How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 215
Ethics Guide: Social Marketing? Or Lying? 216
 Contents xv

Guide: Social Recruiting 218 2. Why Is Systems Development Difficult

Case Study 8: Sedona Social 222 and Risky? 261
The Difficulty of Requirements Determination 262
Changes in Requirements 263
Chapter 9: Business Scheduling and Budgeting Difficulties 263
Intelligence Systems 225 Changing Technology 263
This Could Happen to You 225 Diseconomies of Scale 264
Is It Really So Bleak? 264
1. How Do Organizations Use Business Intelligence (BI)
Systems? 227 3. What Are the Five Phases of the SDLC? 264
How Do Organizations Use BI? 227 4. How Is System Definition Accomplished? 265
What Are Typical Uses for BI? 228 Define System Goals and Scope 266
2. What Are the Three Primary Activities in the BI Assess Feasibility 266
Process? 230 Form a Project Team 267
Using Business Intelligence to Find Candidate Parts at 5. What Is the Users’ Role in the Requirements
AllRoad 230 Phase? 267
3. How Do Organizations Use Data Warehouses and Determine Requirements 268
Data Marts to Acquire Data? 236 Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 10: GardenTracker 269
Problems with Operational Data 237 Approve Requirements 270
Data Warehouses Versus Data Marts 239 Role of a Prototype 270

4. What Are Three Techniques for Processing BI 6. How Are the Five Components Designed? 270
Data? 240 Hardware Design 270
Reporting Analysis 240 Software Design 271
Data Mining Analysis 240 Database Design 271
Unsupervised Data Mining 241 Procedure Design 271
Supervised Data Mining 241 Design of Job Descriptions 271
BigData 241 7. How Is an Information System Implemented? 272
MapReduce 242 System Testing 272
Hadoop 243 System Conversion 273
5. What Are the Alternatives for Publishing BI? 243 8. What Are the Tasks for System Maintenance? 274
Characteristics of BI Publishing Alternatives 243 9. What Are Some of the Problems with the
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 9: What Singularity Have SDLC? 276
We Wrought? 244 The SDLC Waterfall 276
What Are the Two Functions of a BI Server? 246 Requirements Documentation Difficulty 276
How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 247 Scheduling and Budgeting Difficulties 276
Ethics Guide: Unseen Cyberazzi 248 How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 277
Guide: Semantic Security 250 Ethics Guide: Estimation Ethics 278
Case Study 9: Hadoop the Cookie Cutter 254 Guide: The Real Estimation Process 280
Case Study 10: The Cost of PRIDE? 285

Chapter 11: Information

Part 4 Information Systems Management  287

Systems Management This Could Happen to You 287

1. What Are the Functions and Organization of the IS
This Could Happen to You 257 Department? 289
How Is the IS Department Organized? 290
Chapter 10: Information
What IS-Related Job Positions Exist? 291
Systems Development  259
2. How Do Organizations Plan the Use of IS? 293
This Could Happen to You 259 Align Information Systems with Organizational
1. What Is Systems Development? 261 Strategy 293
xvi Contents
Communicate IS Issues to the Executive Group 293
Develop Priorities and Enforce Them Within the IS
Department 294
Sponsor the Steering Committee 294
3. What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of
Outsourcing? 294
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 11: Setting Up the PRIDE
Systems IS Department 295
Outsourcing Information Systems 295
International Outsourcing 297
What Are the Outsourcing Alternatives? 297
What Are the Risks of Outsourcing? 298
4. What Are Your User Rights and Responsibilities? 301
Your User Rights 301
Your User Responsibilities 302
How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 303
Ethics Guide: Using the Corporate Computer 304
Guide: Is Outsourcing Fool’s Gold? 306
Case Study 11: iApp$$$$ 4 U 310
Chapter 12: Information
Security Management  313
This Could Happen to You 313
1. What Is the Goal of Information Systems
Security? 315
The IS Security Threat/Loss Scenario 315
What Are the Sources of Threats? 316
What Types of Security Loss Exist? 317
Goal of Information Systems Security 319
2. How Big Is the Computer Security Problem? 320
3. How Should You Respond to Security Threats? 321
4. How Should Organizations Respond to Security
Threats? 323
Experiencing MIS InClass Exercise 12: Phishing for Credit
Cards, Identifying Numbers, Bank Accounts 324
5. How Can Technical Safeguards Protect Against
Security Threats? 325
Identification and Authentication 325
Single Sign-on for Multiple Systems 326
Encryption 327
Firewalls 328
Malware Protection 329
Design for Secure Applications 330
6. How Can Data Safeguards Protect Against Security
Threats? 330
7. How Can Human Safeguards Protect Against
Security Threats? 331
Human Safeguards for Employees 332
Account Administration 334
Systems Procedures 335
Security Monitoring 336
8. How Should Organizations Respond to Security
Incidents? 336
How Does the Knowledge in This Chapter Help You? 337
Ethics Guide: Is It Spying or Just Good
Management? 338
Guide: The Final, Final Word 340
Case Study 12: Will You Trust FIDO? 344
Chapter Extensions

Chapter Extension 1: 2. How Can You Use Collaboration Tools to Improve

Collaboration Information Team Communication? 362
Systems for Decision Making, 3. How Can You Use Collaboration Tools to Share
Problem Solving, and Project Content? 365
Management 347 Shared Content with No Control 366
Shared Content with Version Management on Google
1. What Are the Two Key Characteristics of
Drive 367
Collaboration? 347
Shared Content with Version Control 368
Importance of Effective Critical Feedback 347
Guidelines for Giving and Receiving Critical Feedback 349 4. How Can You Use Collaboration Tools to Manage
Warning! 349 Tasks? 371
Sharing a Task List on Google Grid 372
2. What Are Three Criteria for Successful
Sharing a Task List Using Microsoft SharePoint 372
Collaboration? 350
Successful Outcome 350 5. Which Collaboration Information System Is Right for
Growth in Team Capability 350 Your Team? 374
Meaningful and Satisfying Experience 351 The Minimal Collaboration Tool Set 374
The Good Collaboration Tool Set 375
3. What Are the Four Primary Purposes of
The Comprehensive Collaboration Tool Set 375
Collaboration? 351
Choosing the Set for Your Team 376
Becoming Informed 352
Don’t Forget Procedures and People! 377
Making Decisions 352
Solving Problems 354
Managing Projects 354
4. What Are the Components and Functions of a Glossary 380
Collaboration Information System? 356 Index 391
The Five Collaboration System Components 356
Primary Functions: Communication and Content
Sharing 356

Chapter Extension 2:
Collaborative Information
Systems for Student
Projects 360

1. What Are the IS Requirements for Student Project

Collaborations? 360
Required Features 360
Nice-to-Have Features 361
Collaboration Tool Characteristics 361

xvii
To the Student

If you were to walk into my office today and ask me for advice about how to use this book, here’s
what I’d say:

1. This class may be the most important course in the business school. Don’t blow it off. See
the first few pages of Chapter 1.

2. This class is much broader than you think. It’s not just about Excel or Web pages or
computer programs. It’s about business and how businesses can be more successful with
computer-based systems.

3. The design of this book is based on research into how you learn. Every chapter or extension
starts with a list of questions. Read the material until you can answer the questions. Then,
go to the Active Review and do the tasks there. If you’re successful with those tasks, you’re
done. If it takes you 5 minutes to do that, you’re done. If it takes you 5 hours to do that,
you’re done. But you aren’t done until you can complete the Active Review tasks.

4. Pay attention to the issues raised by the opening cases. Those cases are based on real
people and real companies and real stories. I changed the names to protect the innocent,
the guilty, the publisher, and me.

5. Read the guides. Those stories are what my own students tell me teach them the most.

6. To make it easy to pick up and read, this book includes a lot of colorful and interesting art.
However, don’t forget to read.

7. I have worked in the computer industry for more than 40 years. There isn’t anything in this
text that a business professional might never use. It’s all relevant, depending on what you
decide to do.

8. However, this book contains more than you can learn in one semester. All of the content
in this book will be needed by someone, but it may not be needed by you. Pay attention to
what your professor says you should learn. He or she knows the job requirements in your
local area.

9. With the national unemployment rate for young adults over 10 percent, your primary task
in college is to learn something that will get you a job. Many exercises ask you to prepare
something for a future job interview. Do those exercises!

10. Technology will create wonderfully interesting opportunities in the next 10 years. Get
involved, be successful, and have fun!

David Kroenke
Whidbey Island, WA

xviii
About the Author

David Kroenke has many years of teaching experience at Colorado State

University, Seattle University, and the University of Washington. He has led doz-
ens of seminars for college professors on the teaching of information systems
and technology; in 1991, the International Association of Information Systems
named him Computer Educator of the Year. In 2009, David was named Educator
of the Year by the Association of Information Technology Professionals-
Education Special Interest Group (AITP-EDSIG).
David worked for the U.S. Air Force and Boeing Computer Services. He was
a principal in the startup of three companies, serving as the vice president of
product marketing and development for the Microrim Corporation and as chief
of database technologies for Wall Data, Inc. He is the father of the semantic object data model.
David’s consulting clients have included IBM, Microsoft, and Computer Sciences Corporation,
as well as numerous smaller companies. Recently, David has focused on using information sys-
tems for teaching collaboration and teamwork.
His text Database Processing was first published in 1977 and is now in its 13th edition. He has
authored and coauthored many other textbooks, including Database Concepts, 6th edition (2013),
Using MIS, 7th edition (2015), Experiencing MIS, 5th edition (2015), SharePoint for Students
(2012), Office 365 in Business (2012), and Processes, Systems, and Information, 2nd edition (2015).
David lives on Whidbey Island, WA, and has two children and three grandchildren. He enjoys
woodworking, making both furniture and small sailboats.

xix
This page intentionally left blank
 part 1
Why MIS?
AllRoad Parts is a 10-year-old, privately owned company that sells parts for adventure
vehicles. Its products include specialized brakes and suspension systems for mountain bikes
and suspensions and off-road gear for dirt bikes (motorcycles designed for use in rough terrain),
and it has recently started selling bumpers, doors, and soft tops for Jeeps and other off-road,
four-wheel-drive vehicles. Jason Green is AllRoad Parts’ founder and CEO. Jason always had
an interest in off-road vehicles; as a teenager he rebuilt a Volkswagen in
his parents’ garage for off-road use. In college, he started mountain
biking and competitively raced cross-country,
winning several regional contests and
placing high in the world championships in
Purgatory, Colorado. He knew that a big part of his
success was his innovative, high-quality equipment. In
his senior year of college, he started an informal but
successful eBay business buying and selling hard-to-find mountain bike parts.

Jason was a strong believer in (and customer of) Fox mountain bike racing parts
(www.RideFox.com), and through contacts he made at one of the championship
events, he obtained a job in marketing at Fox. Part of his job was testing new
equipment, which he loved to do. Jason worked at Fox for five years, gaining
marketing and management experience. However, he never forgot the
success he’d had selling parts on eBay and was convinced he could start
a similar but larger business on his own. In 2003, he left Fox to start
AllRoad Parts.

Today, AllRoad Parts sells nearly $20 million of bike, motorcycle, and
four-wheel parts for all-road riding. Jason no longer uses eBay, but
true to his vision, the bulk of AllRoad’s revenue is earned via online,
direct sales to customers.
Source: julien tromeur/Fotolia
 In addition to selling high-end, expensive parts obtained from Fox
and other manufacturers, AllRoad also sells a line of specialized,
hard-to-find repair parts. These parts have high margins, but those
margins are reduced by the cost of the large number of items
AllRoad must carry in its inventory. Jason knows that inventory
is expensive, but having a large selection of repair parts is key to
AllRoad’s competitive success. “People know they will find that
rare, 10 mm stainless steel Nylex cap on our site. Sure, it sells
for maybe a dollar, but once we get people on our site, we have
a chance to sell them a $2,000 suspension system as well. It
doesn’t happen every day, but it does happen. Our huge parts
inventory is bait to our customers, and I’m not going to cut
back on it.”

Recently Jason has been thinking about 3D printing.1 AllRoad

hasn’t used it yet, and Jason’s not sure that it makes sense for
the company. Still, he knows that if AllRoad could manufacture
very small quantities, even single units, of some of the more
specialized parts, it could substantially reduce its inventory costs.
But he has so many questions: Is 3D printing technology real?
Does it produce quality products? How can he analyze past sales
to determine how much AllRoad might save? Which parts should
the company manufacture and which should it continue to buy? How
much will it cost for equipment and information systems to support
3D printing? How can AllRoad integrate in-house manufacturing into
its existing purchasing and sales information systems?

Jason doesn’t know the answers to these questions, but he

doesn’t want to wait for AllRoad’s competition to show him
the way. So, he forms a project team to
investigate. He asks Kelly Summers,
AllRoad’s CFO, to lead a team to assess the
opportunity. Kelly asks Lucas Massey, AllRoad’s director of IT
services, Drew Mills, Operations Manager, and Addison Lee, head
of Purchasing, to participate. Kelly also includes Jennifer Cooper,
a relatively new employee about whom she’s received a number of
complaints. “I’ll work closely with her to learn
what she can do,” Kelly thinks to herself.

Source: AnatolyM/Shutterstock

1
3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is the process of creating three-dimensional objects by
fusing two-dimensional layers of plastic, metal, and other substances on top of one another. Because there are
very small machine setup costs, 3D printing can economically produce in single-unit quantities. If you haven’t
yet seen it, search the Internet for 3D printing examples.
2
 chapter
The Importance 1
of MIS
“Fired? You’re firing me?”
“Well, fired is a harsh word, but . . . well, AllRoad has no further need for your
services.”
“But, Kelly, I don’t get it. I really don’t. I worked hard, and I did everything you told me
to do.”
“Jennifer, that’s just it. You did everything I told you to do.”
“I put in so many hours. How could you fire me?”
“Your job was to find ways to reduce our
inventory costs using 3D printing.”
“Right! And I did that.”
“No, you didn’t. You followed up on ideas that I
gave you. But we don’t need someone who can follow
up on my plans. We need someone who can figure out
what we need to do, create her own plans, and bring
them back to me. . . . and others.”
“How could you expect me to do that? I’ve only been here 6 months!”
“It’s called teamwork. Sure, you’re just learning our business, but I made sure all of
our senior staff would be available to you . . . ”
“I didn’t want to bother them.”
“Well, you succeeded. I asked Drew what
he thought of the plans you’re working
on. ‘Who’s Jennifer?’ he asked.”
“But doesn’t he work down at
the warehouse?”
“Right. He’s the operations
manager . . . and it would seem
to be worth talking to him.”
“I’ll go do that!”
“Jennifer, do you see
what just happened? I
gave you an idea, and you
said you’d do it. That’s not
what I need. I need you
to find solutions on your
own.”
“I worked really hard.
I put in a lot of hours.
I’ve got all these reports
written.”
“Has anyone seen
them?”
 Study Questions
Q1 Why is Introduction to Mis the Most Important Class in
the Business School?
Q2 What is an Information System?
Q3 What is Mis?
Q4 Why is the Difference Between Information Technology
and Information Systems Important to you?
Q5 What is your Role in is Security?

MyMISLab™
Visit mymislab.com for simulations, tutorials, and end-of-chapter problems.

How does the knowledge

in this chapter help you?

“I talked to you about some of them. But I was waiting until I was satisfied with them.”
“Right. That’s not how we do things here. We develop ideas and then kick them
around with each other. Nobody has all the smarts. Our plans get better when we
comment and rework them . . . I think I told you that.”
“Maybe you did. But I’m just not comfortable with that.”
“Well, it’s a key skill here.”
“But today, “I know I can do this job.”
“Jennifer, you’ve been here almost 6 months; you have a degree in business.
they’re not enough.” Several weeks ago, I asked you to conceptualize a way to identify potential
products for 3D production. Do you remember what you told me?”
“Yes, I wasn’t sure how to proceed. I didn’t want to just throw something out
that might not work.”
“But how would you find out if it would work?”
“I don’t want to waste money . . . ”
“No, you don’t. So, when you didn’t get very far with that task, I backed up and
asked you to send me a diagram of our supply chain . . . how we select vendors and
how we negotiate with them, how we order parts and add them to our Web pages, how we
manage inventory and ship goods, and so on. Not details, just the overview.”
“Yes, I sent you that diagram.”
“Jennifer, it made no sense. Your diagram had us shipping goods to customers before
we’d taken payment or verified credit.”
“I know that process, I just couldn’t put it down on paper. But I’ll try again!”
“Well, I appreciate that attitude, but we’re a small company, really still a startup.
Everyone needs to pull more than their own weight here. Maybe if we were a bigger

CE Optional Extension for this chapter is • CE1: Collaboration Information

Systems for Decision Making, Problem Solving, and Project Management 347
Another random document with
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crab-apple is also planted for the fragrance and beauty of its flowers;
and if the Siberian species had no material value, it would be
cultivated for the beauty of its fruit.
As I have frequently remarked, Nature is not lavish of those forms
and hues that constitute pure organic beauty. She displays them very
sparingly under ordinary circumstances, that we may not be wearied
by their stimulus, and thereby lose our susceptibility to agreeable
impressions from homely objects. But at certain times and during
very short periods she seems to exert all her powers to fascinate the
senses. It is when in these moods that she wreathes the trees with
flowers for a short time in the spring, and just before the coming of
winter illumines the forest with colors as beautiful as they are
evanescent.

The Apple-Tree was one of the first trees planted by the original
settlers of New England, who could not in the wilderness raise those
fruits that require the skill of the gardener. This tree is indigenous in
all parts of Europe, Northern Asia, and North America. On this
continent are found two native species, of which the Virginia Crab is
the only important one. This tree bears a small green fruit, agreeable,
odoriferous, and intensely acid; but our attention is chiefly attracted
by its rose-colored flowers, that perfume the whole atmosphere with
a sweetness not surpassed by that of the rose. Nothing in the world
can exceed the purity of this fragrance, which, in connection with its
beautiful flowers, borne in large clusters, render it the admiration of
all. The lover of nature is delighted to find this species in a perfectly
unsophisticated state, and unimproved by culture, which always
tends to insipidity. The Druids paid great reverence to the apple-tree,
because the mistletoe grew upon it. In our own fields it is free from
this parasite, which is not found on the western continent above the
latitude of Virginia.
 THE PEAR.

The apple-tree bears some resemblance to the oak in its general

outlines, displaying, though inferior in size, more sturdiness than
grace. A standard apple-tree commonly resembles a hemisphere,
often in diameter exceeding its own height. This shape might be
caused by training; but the gardener, by cutting off certain branches,
does not change the tendency of the tree to assume its normal shape.
The foliage of the apple-tree is rather coarse, stiff, and inelegant, and
deficient in purity of verdure, being after it is fully developed of a
dusky green, and without tints when ripened, save what may be
termed accidental. There is, nevertheless, a certain kind of beauty in
an old apple-tree which is seen in no other of the orchard trees,
rendering it a very picturesque object in rustic scenery.
 The Pear-Tree is taller than the apple-tree, assuming an
imperfectly pyramidal shape. Its branches have not the horizontal
tendency of the latter; but when growing singly as a standard it
greatly surpasses it in dimensions, and many individuals of a former
age, that have escaped the axe of horticultural improvement, are
noble standards, and of no inferior merit as shade-trees. The foliage
of the pear-tree displays some of the tremulous habit of the aspen,
owing to the length and slenderness of its leaf-stems. It has,
moreover, a gloss that distinguishes it from that of the apple-tree; it
is also less stubborn in retaining its verdure, and partially tinted in
autumn. The pear-trees which have been raised within the last thirty
years are mostly dwarfed, and seldom display their normal shape.
They are small, with straggling branches, and unworthy of
consideration in a treatise of this kind. The old standards, still,
occasionally seen in pastures and fallow lands, are the only ones that
affect the beauty of landscape. I have mentioned several points in
which the pear-tree surpasses the apple-tree as a beautiful and
stately object; but its fruit will bear no comparison in beauty with
that of the apple-tree, which produces a greater variety of beautiful
fruit than any other tree that is known.

The Quince-Tree, though inferior in size, and not prospering very

well on the soil of New England, which is rather too cold for it,
deserves a passing remark. In botanical characters it bears more
resemblance to the pear than to the apple. The fruit has the same
tender and mucilaginous core; the seeds are not enclosed in a dry
hull, like those of the apple; and the pulp of the quince, like that of
the pear, is granulated, while that of the apple displays in its texture
a finer and firmer organization. I may add the well-known fact that
the pear may be grafted upon a quince stock, while no such union
can be effected between the apple and the quince, or the apple and
the pear. The quince-tree makes a very elegant appearance, both
when covered with its large white and crimson-stained flowers, and
when laden with its golden Hesperian fruit.

The Plum-Tree, in connection with the orchard, hardly deserves

mention; but there are two indigenous species which in some places
are conspicuous objects in our fields. The beach-plum requires no
description. It is a low shrub, very common on many parts of the
New England coast and on the islands around it. There is nothing
remarkable in its appearance or in the beauty of its fruit, which is of
a dark-blue color and about the size of damsons. The other species is
a tree of considerable size, which is very beautiful when covered with
its ripe scarlet berries. In the State of Maine they are called
“plumgranates,” and are very generally used for culinary purposes.

The Peach-Tree, of all the tenants of the garden and orchard, is

the most beautiful when in flower, varying in the color of its bloom
from a delicate blush to a light crimson. As it puts forth its flowers
before the leaves, the tree presents to view the likeness of a
magnificent bouquet. When covering many acres of ground, nothing
in nature can surpass it in splendor, flowering, as it does, sooner
than almost any other tree. Even in New England, where these trees
are now seen only in occasional groups, they constitute an important
object in the landscape, when in flower. Few persons are aware how
much interest the peach-tree adds to the landscape in early spring,
by its suggestions as well as its beauty. Since the changeableness of
our winter and the harshness of our spring weather have been
aggravated by the destruction of our Northern forests, the peach-tree
is so liable to perish that its cultivation has been neglected, and trees
of this species are now very scarce in New England, except in the
gardens of wealthy men. We no longer meet them as formerly in our
journeyings through rustic farms, when they were interspersed
among apple-trees, adorning every byway in the country.
 THE AMERICAN ELM.

I will confess that I join in the admiration so generally bestowed

upon the American Elm. To me no other tree seems so beautiful or so
majestic. It does not exhibit the sturdy ruggedness of the oak; it is
not so evidently defiant of wind and tempest. It seems, indeed, to
make no outward pretensions of strength. It bends to the breeze
which the oak defies, and is more seldom, therefore, broken by the
wind. The Elm is especially the wayside tree of New England, and it
forms the most remarkable feature of our domestic landscape. If
there be in any other section of our land as many, they are
individuals mingled with the forest, and are not so frequent by the
roadsides. In this part of the country the Elm has been planted and
cherished from the earliest period of our history, and the inhabitants
have always looked upon it with admiration, and valued it as a
landscape ornament above every other species. It is the most
drooping of the drooping trees, except the willow, which it surpasses
in grandeur and in the variety of its forms.
Though the Elm has never been consecrated by the muse of classic
song, or dignified by making a figure in the paintings of the old
masters, the native inhabitant of New England associates the varied
forms of this tree with all that is delightful in the scenery or
memorable in the history of our land. All spacious avenues are
bordered with elms, and their magnificent rows are everywhere
familiar to his sight. He has seen them extending their broad and
benevolent arms over many a hospitable mansion and many a
humble cottage, and equally harmonizing with all. They meet his
sight in the public grounds of the city with their ample shade and
flowing spray; and he beholds them in the clearing, where they were
left by the woodman to stand as solitary landmarks of the devastated
space. Every year of his life he has seen the beautiful hangbird weave
his pensile nest upon the long and flexible branches, secure from the
reach of every foe. From its vast dome of branches and foliage he has
listened to the songs of the late and early birds, and under its canopy
he has witnessed many a scene of rustic amusement.
To a native of New England, therefore, the Elm has a character
more nearly approaching that of sacredness than any other tree.
Setting aside the pleasure derived from it as an object of material
beauty, it reminds him of the familiar scenes of home and the events
of his early life. How many a happy assemblage of children and
young persons has been gathered under its shade in the sultry noons
of summer! How many a young May queen has been crowned under
its tasselled roof, when the greensward was just daisied with the
early flowers of spring! And how often has the weary traveller rested
from his journey under its wide-spreading boughs, and from a state
of weariness and vexation, when o’erspent by heat and length of way,
subsided into quiet thankfulness and content!
In my own mind the Elm is intimately allied with those old
dwelling-houses which were built in the early part of the last century,
and form one of the principal remaining features of New England
home architecture during that period. They are known by their broad
and ample but low-studded rooms, their two stories in front, their
numerous windows with small panes, their single chimney in the
centre of the roof, that sloped down to one story in the rear, and their
general homely appearance, reminding us of the simplicity of life
that characterized our people before the Revolution. Their very
homeliness is attractive, by leaving the imagination free to dwell
upon their interesting suggestions. Not many of these venerable
houses are now extant; but whenever we see one, it is almost
invariably accompanied by its Elm, standing upon the green open
space that slopes down from it in front, waving its long branches in
melancholy grandeur above the old homestead, and drooping, as
with sorrow, over the infirmities of its old companion of a century.
Early in April the Elm puts forth its flowers, of a dark maroon
color, in numerous clusters, fringing the long terminal spray, and
filling up the whole space so effectually that the branches can hardly
be seen; they appear at the same time with the crimson flowers of the
red maple, and give the tree a very sombre appearance. The seeds
ripen early, and being small and chaffy are wafted in all directions
and carried to great distances by the wind. In the early part of June,
soon after the leaves are expanded, the Elm displays the most beauty.
At this time only can its verdure be considered brilliant: for the leaf
soon fades to a dull green, and displays no tints, except that of a
rusty yellow in the autumn. In perfectly healthy elms, standing on a
deep soil, the brightness of the foliage is retained to a later period;
but the trees near Boston have suffered so much from the ravages of
the cankerworm that their health is injured, and their want of vitality
is shown by the premature fading and dropping of their foliage.
Nothing can exceed the American Elm in a certain harmonious
combination of sturdiness and grace,—two qualities which are
seldom united. Along with its superior magnitude, we observe a great
length and slenderness of its branches, without anything in the
combination that indicates weakness. It is very agreeable to witness
the union, under any circumstances, of two interesting or admirable
traits of character which are supposed to be incompatible. Hence the
complacency we feel when we meet a brave man who is amiable and
polite, or a learned man who is neither reserved nor pedantic. A
slender vine, supported by a sturdy tree, forms a very agreeable
image; not less delightful is that consonance we perceive in a
majestic Elm, formed by the union of grandeur with the gracefulness
of its own flowing drapery.
The Elm is generally subdivided into several equal branches,
diverging from a common centre at a small distance above the
ground. The height of this divergence depends on the condition of
the tree when it was a seedling, whether it grew in a forest or in an
open field; and the angle made by these branches is much wider
when it obtained its growth in an isolated situation. The shape of
different elms varies more than that of any other known species. It is
indeed almost the only tree which may be said to exhibit more than
one normal figure, setting aside those variations of form which are
the natural effects of youth and age. The American Elm never
displays one central shaft to which the branches are subordinate, like
the English Elm; or rather, I should say, that when it has only a
single shaft it is without any limbs, and is surrounded only with short
and slender twigs. This leads me to speak of its normal diversities of
shape, which were originally described by Mr. Emerson under
several types.
 THE DOME.
This is the form which the Elm seems most prone to assume when
it stands from the time it was a seedling until it attains its full stature
in an open space. It then shows a broad hemispherical head, formed
by branches of nearly equal size, issuing chiefly from a common
centre, diverging first at a small angle, and gradually spreading
outward with a curve that may be traced throughout their length. A
considerable number of our roadside elms are specimens more or
less imperfect of this normal type.
 THE VASE FORM.
One of the most admirable of these different forms is that of the
vase. The base is represented by the roots of the tree as they project
above the ground, making a sort of pedestal for the trunk. The neck
of the vase is the trunk before it is subdivided. The middle of the vase
consists of the lower part of the branches as they swell outwards with
a graceful curve, then gradually diverge, until they bend over at their
extremities and form the lip of the vase by a circle of terminal spray.
Perfect specimens of this beautiful form are rare, but in a row or a
grove of elms there are always a few individuals that approximate to
this type.
 THE PARASOL.
The neatest and most beautiful of these forms is the parasol. This
variety is seen in those elms which have grown to their full height in
the forest, and were left by the woodman in the clearing; for such is
the general admiration of this tree, that great numbers of them are
left in clearings in all parts of the country. The State of Maine
abounds in trees of this form, sending forth almost perpendicularly a
number of branches, that spread out rather suddenly at a
considerable height, in the shape of an umbrella. Trees of this type
have much of that grandeur which is caused by great height and
small dimensions, as observed in a palm-tree. A remarkable trait in
the character of the Elm is, that, unlike other trees, it seldom loses its
beauty, and is often improved in shape, by growing while young in a
dense assemblage. It is simply modified into a more slender shape,
usually subdivided very near the ground into several branches that
diverge but little until they reach the summit of the wood. Other
trees, when they have grown in a dense wood, form but a single shaft,
without lateral branches.
 THE PLUME.
The most singular of the forms assumed by the Elm, and which
cannot be regarded as of a normal character, is the plume, caused by
some peculiar conditions attending its early growth. The shaft is
sometimes double, but usually not divided at all, except into two or
three small branches at its very summit. It is perpendicular to near
three fourths of its height, and then bends over, like one of the outer
branches of a normal-shaped Elm. This whole tree, whether double
or single, is covered from the ground to its summit with a dense
embroidery of vine-like twigs that cluster round it in all ways, often
inverted, as if it were covered with a woody vine. The cause of this
form seems to be the removal of the tree into an uncongenial soil,
that is too scanty and innutritious to sustain a healthy growth. Yet I
have seen some trees of this shape in clearings. They do not seem to
be diseased, yet they are evidently in a stunted condition. One of the
most remarkable of the plume elms which I have seen stands in the
northern part of Danvers, near the point where the Essex Railroad
crosses the Ipswich River. I have observed a similar habit of growth
in some English elms, but their shaft is always perpendicular.
 THE ENGLISH ELM.

The English Elm may be seen on Boston Common, and in front of

old mansions in Medford and other ancient towns in Massachusetts.
Very few trees of this species, however, have been planted since the
Revolution. This royal Elm seems to have lost favor when
republicanism took the place of monarchy. Yet in many points the
English Elm is superior to the American species. It is not a drooping
tree; it resembles the oak in its general form, but surpasses it in
height. The trunk is not subdivided; throughout its entire length, the
branches are attached to it by wide angles, sometimes spread out in
an almost horizontal direction. Selby remarks, that, “in point of
magnitude, grandeur of form, and majestic growth, the English Elm
has few competitors in the British sylva.” In the form of the leaf and
spray it closely resembles the American tree; but the leaf is of a
brighter green, it comes out several days earlier in the spring, and
continues green in the fall a week or ten days after the American elm
has become entirely denuded. The same difference, in a less degree,
has been observed in the leafing and falling of the leaf of all
European trees, compared with their kindred species in the
American forest.
 THE CHERRY-TREE.

Among our fruit-trees the Cherry occupies the most conspicuous

place, considered with reference either to shade or ornament,
surpassing all the others in size and in comeliness of growth. All the
species are handsome trees, and some of them are of great stature.
They are natives of all countries in the northern temperate zone, but
not of any region south of the equator. The three most remarkable
species of the family are the common garden Cherry, or Mazard,
which is believed to be a native of Asia; the Great Northern Cherry,
or Gean, of Europe; and the Black Cherry of the United States.
 THE BLACK CHERRY.
The Black Cherry, which is a tree of the first magnitude in
favorable regions, is only a middle-sized tree in the New England
States. In the South and West, especially on the banks of the Ohio
River, it attains a very great size, rising sometimes to one hundred
feet, according to Michaux, with a corresponding diameter. It is
sensitive to the extremes both of cold and heat, and to an excess
either of dryness or moisture. In Maine it is only a small tree, being
checked in its growth by the severe Northern winters. Very far south
it suffers from the hot and dry summers, but prospers well in the
mountainous parts. It forms immense forests in many districts of
North America, in company with the honey locust, the black walnut,
the red elm, and the oak. It is sufficiently common in New England
to constitute an important ingredient of our wood scenery, and
though indigenous, it is most abundant in lands which have been
modified by cultivation.
This tree differs very obviously in its ramification from the garden
cherry, in which the branches are always subordinate to the trunk,
and arranged in irregular whorls and stages, one above another, so
that, if they were horizontal, they would resemble those of a fir-tree.
The Black Cherry tree, on the contrary, is subdivided in such a
manner that the main stem cannot easily be traced above the lower
junction of the branches, except in those which have grown in a
forest. The branches are spread out more loosely, without the least of
any arrangement in whorls, and their terminations are longer and
smaller. The leaves of the two trees are also widely different: those of
the garden cherry are broad, ovate, rough, and serrate; those of the
American tree are lanceolate and smooth, and almost as slender as
the leaves of the willow. The one bears its flowers and fruit in
racemes, the other in round clusters or umbels. The trunk and bark
of the two species are similar, both resembling the black birch in the
properties of their wood and the outside appearance of their bark.
The branches of the Wild Cherry are too straggling and sparse to
make a beautiful tree, and the leaves being small and narrow, the
whole mass is wanting in depth of shade.
 THE CHOKE CHERRY.
When we are rambling in rustic lanes, that lead through rudely
cultivated grounds, we frequently meet with groups of tall handsome
shrubs, covered in May with a profusion of white flowers, and in
August heavily laden with bright scarlet fruit. Such is the Choke
Cherry, a small tree with which all are familiar from their frequent
disappointment on attempting to eat its fruit. Its promises to the
sight are not fulfilled to the taste. Though of an agreeable flavor, it is
exceedingly harsh and astringent. This is a more beautiful tree when
in flower than the black cherry, though it is generally a mere shrub,
never rising above fifteen or twenty feet in height. The racemes,
when in flower, are not drooping, as they are when laden with fruit,
but stand out at right angles with the branch, completely
surrounding it, and giving to every slender twig the appearance of a
long white plume. In the eastern part of Massachusetts I have found
this species, as well as the black cherry, in old graveyards,—so
frequently, indeed, that in my early days these trees were associated
with graves, as the Lombardy poplar is with ancient avenues. I
suppose their frequency in these places to be caused by the birds
dropping the seeds at the foot of the gravestones, where they quickly
germinate, and are protected, when growing, by the stone beside
them.
The cultivation of the Gean, or Great Northern Cherry of Europe,
which was named by Linnæus the bird cherry, is encouraged in Great
Britain and on the Continent of Europe for the benefit of the birds,
which are regarded as the most important checks to the over-
multiplication of insects. The fact, not yet understood in America,
that the birds which are the most mischievous as consumers of fruit
are the most useful as destroyers of insects, is well known by all the
farmers in Europe; and while we destroy the birds to save the fruit,
and sometimes cut down the fruit-trees to starve the birds, the
Europeans more wisely plant them for their sustenance and
accommodation.
 THE SNOWY MESPILUS.

This tree, which is conspicuous in the early part of May from its
profusion of white flowers in the swamps, is very little known except
in Canada and some of the northern provinces of this continent. Yet
it is far from being rare, and is one of the most elegant of the small
trees in our native forest; being allied to the mountain ash, branching
in a similar manner, but exhibiting a neater and more beautiful
spray. It is exclusively a Northern tree, and one of the earliest to put
forth flowers and leaves after the elm and the red maple. This tree is
spread over almost all the northern part of the American continent
and the Alleghany Mountains. From its habit of flowering at the time
of the annual appearance of the shad in our waters, it is very
frequently called the Shad-bush.
The Snowy Mespilus is one of those trees which botanists have
described under so many different names that I should shrink from
the task, if the duty were assigned me, of collecting all that have been
applied to it. But whenever there is much contrariety of opinion
among botanists respecting the generic rank and denomination of
any plant, I usually resort to its earliest botanical title. Indeed, I feel
assured that the nice distinctions upon which later botanists have
founded its claims to a different generic position are very much of
the same nature as those which divide theologians, whose
ecclesiastical acuteness enables them to discern a palpable difference
in two doctrinal points, neither of which to an unregenerate mind
have any meaning at all. I therefore prefer to call this tree a Mespilus,
after Linnæus and Michaux, to save myself the trouble of those
infinitesimal investigations that might convince me of the propriety
of placing it in every one of a dozen other different genera.
The Shad-bush is a small tree inclining to grow in clumps, instead
of making a single stem from the root, and is seldom quite so large or
so tall as the mountain ash. The leaves are small and alternate,
resembling those of a pear-tree, but more elegant, and covered with a
soft silken down on their first appearance; as the foliage ripens, it
becomes smooth and glossy. The flowers are white, but without
beauty, growing in loose panicles at the ends of the branches. The
product of these flowers is a small fruit, about the size of the
common wild gooseberry, of a dark crimson color and a very
agreeable flavor. This fruit is used very generally in the northern
provinces, where the tree is larger and more productive than in New
England.
 THE CHOKEBERRY.

A smaller species of mespilus, familiarly known as the Chokeberry,

is more interesting as a flowering plant. It is a slender shrub, with
beautiful finely toothed leaves, bearing flowers in clusters very much
like those of the hawthorn, with white petals and purple or crimson
anthers. The flowers stand erect, but the berries, which are very
astringent and are often gathered carelessly with whortleberries,
hang from the branches in full pendent clusters. The flowers of this
plant are very conspicuous in the latter part of May in all our
meadows.
 THE MOUNTAIN ASH.

The Mountain Ash, or Rowan-tree, is beautiful in all its conditions

and at all seasons. Its elegant pinnate foliage, not flowing, like that of
the locust, but neat, firm, and finely serrate, and its flowers, in large
clusters, like those of the elder, render the tree very conspicuous
when in blossom. But its greatest ornament is the scarlet fruit that
hangs from every branch in the autumn. We could hardly be
persuaded to introduce the Mountain Ash into a picture. The
primness of its form injures it as a picturesque object in landscape.
Its beauty is such as children admire, who are guided by a sense of its
material attractions, and do not generally prize a tree except for its
elegance and colors. The beauty, however, which attracts the sensual
eye in this case is deceitful, for its fruit is of a bitter, sour flavor, and
incapable of improvement. European writers say that thrushes are
very fond of this fruit. In our land it remains untouched, at least until
late in the season, after the black cherries are gone, which tempt all
kinds of birds by their superior flavor. The American Mountain Ash
differs from the European tree only by its smaller fruit.
I have said that the Mountain Ash is wanting in picturesque
qualities; but my remark applies only to its form and habit of growth.
On the other hand, it is peculiarly the tree of romance, being
remarkable for the many superstitious customs connected with it.
According to Evelyn, “There is no churchyard in Wales without a
Mountain Ash-tree planted in it, as the yew-trees are in the
churchyards of England. So on a certain day of the year everybody in
Wales religiously wears a cross made of the wood.” Gilpin says that
in his time “a stump of the Mountain Ash was generally found in
some old burial-place, or near the circle of a Druid’s temple, the rites
of which were formerly performed under its shade.”
 Many of the inhabitants of Great Britain still believe that a branch
of the Rowan-tree carried about with them is a charm against the evil
influences of witchcraft. It is remarkable that similar superstitions
connected with this tree prevail among the North American Indians;
and it is not improbable that they were introduced by the early Welsh
colonists, before the discovery of America by Columbus.

MOUNTAIN ASH.