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Brief Contents
Preface 14

I Information Systems in the Digital Age 29


1 Business Information Systems in Your Career 30
2 Global E-business and Collaboration 68
3 Achieving Competitive Advantage with Information Systems 106
4 Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems 142

II Information Technology Infrastructure 181


5 IT Infrastructure: Hardware and Software 182
6 Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management 222
7 Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless Technology 258
8 Securing Information Systems 300

III Key System Applications for the Digital Age 341


9 Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy: Enterprise Applications 342
10 E-commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods 376
11 Improving Decision Making and Managing Knowledge 420

IV Building and Managing Systems 461


12 Building Information Systems and Managing Projects 462

Glossary 503
Indexes 518

4
Complete Contents
Preface 14 Using Databases to Analyze Sales Trends 61 •
Improving Decision Making: Using The Internet
I Information Systems in the to Locate Jobs Requiring Information Systems
Knowledge 62
Digital Age 29
Collaboration and Teamwork Project 62
1 Business Information Systems in Your Career 30 Business Problem-Solving Case
Did Information Systems Cause Deutsche Bank
Chapter-Opening Case:
to Stumble? 63
Premier League: The Power of IT Analytics 31
1-1 Why are information systems so essential for 2 Global E-business and Collaboration 68
running and managing a business today? 33
How Information Systems are Transforming Business 33 • Chapter-Opening Case:
What’s New in Management Information Systems? 34 • Enterprise Social Networking Helps Sanofi Pasteur
Globalization Challenges and Opportunities: A Flattened Innovate and Improve Quality 69
World 36 2-1 What major features of a business are
Interactive Session: People important for understanding the role of
Can You Run Your Company with Your iPhone? 37 information systems? 70
Business Drivers of Information Systems 39 Organizing a Business: Basic Business Functions 71 •
1-2 What exactly is an information system? Business Processes 72 • Managing a Business and Firm
How does it work? What are its people, Hierarchies 74 • The Business Environment 75 •
organizational, and technology The Role of Information Systems in a Business 76
components? 41 2-2 How do systems serve different management
What is an Information System? 41 • It isn’t Simply groups in a business, and how do systems that
Technology: The Role of People and Organizations 43 • link the enterprise improve organizational
Dimensions of Information Systems 44 performance? 76
Systems for Different Management Groups 76 • Systems
Interactive Session: Technology for Linking the Enterprise 81
Digital Transformation of Healthcare at Singapore’s
JurongHealth Services 47 Interactive Session: People
Data Changes How NFL Teams Play the Game and
1-3 How will a four-step method for business How Fans See It 82
problem solving help you solve information
system–related problems? 48 E-Business, E-Commerce, and E-Government 85
The Problem-Solving Approach 49 • A Model of the 2-3 Why are systems for collaboration and social
Problem-Solving Process 49 • The Role of Critical business so important, and what technologies
Thinking in Problem Solving 51 • The Connections do they use? 85
Among Business Objectives, Problems, and Solutions 52 What is Collaboration? 85 • What is Social Business? 87 •
1-4 What information systems skills and knowledge Business Benefits of Collaboration and Social
are essential for business careers? 53 Business 87 • Building a Collaborative Culture and
How Information Systems will Affect Business Careers 53 • Business Processes 89 • Tools and Technologies for
Information Systems and Business Careers: Wrap-Up 56 • Collaboration and Social Business 89
How This Book Prepares You for the Future 56 Interactive Session: Technology
1-5 How will MIS help my career? 58 Collaborating the Glasscubes Way 91
The Company 58 • Position Description 58 • Job 2-4 What is the role of the information systems
Requirements 58 • Interview Questions 58 • Author Tips 58 function in a business? 94
Review Summary 59 • Key The Information Systems Department 95 • Information
Terms 60 • Review Questions Systems Services 96
60 • Discussion Questions 60 • 2-5 How will MIS help my career? 96
Hands-On MIS Projects 61 The Company 96 •Position Description 97 • Job
Management Decision Problems Requirements 97 • Interview Questions 97 • Author Tips 97
61 • Improving Decision Making:
5
Review Summary 98 • Key Review Summary 133 •
Terms 99 • Review Questions Key Terms 134 • Review
99 • Discussion Questions 100 Questions 134 • Discussion
• Hands-On MIS Projects Questions 135 • Hands-On
100 MIS Projects 135
Management Decision Problems Management Decision
100 • Improving Decision Making: Use a Spreadsheet Problems 135 • Improving Decision Making: Using a
to Select Suppliers 100 • Database to Clarify Business Strategy 136 • Improving
Achieving Operational Excellence: Using Internet Decision Making: Using Web Tools To Configure And
Software to Plan Efficient Transportation Routes 101 Price An Automobile 136
Collaboration and Teamwork Project 101 Collaboration and Teamwork Project 137
Business Problem-Solving Case Business Problem-Solving Case
Can a Rugby Union Teach Businesses How to Turn Walmart Versus Amazon and the Future of Retail 138
Customers into Supporters? 102

3 Achieving Competitive Advantage with 4 Ethical and Social Issues in Information


Systems 142
Information Systems 106
Chapter-Opening Case:
Chapter-Opening Case: The Dark Side of Big Data 143
Tate & Lyle Devise a Global IT Strategy 107
4-1 What ethical, social, and political issues are
3-1 How do Porter’s competitive forces model, raised by information systems? 145
the value chain model, synergies, core A Model for Thinking About Ethical, Social, and Political
competencies, and network-based strategies Issues 146 • Five Moral Dimensions of the Information Age
help companies use information systems for 147 • Key Technology Trends That Raise Ethical Issues 148
competitive advantage? 108 4-2 What specific principles for conduct can be
Porter’s Competitive Forces Model 109 • Information used to guide ethical decisions? 150
System Strategies For Dealing With Competitive Forces Basic Concepts: Responsibility, Accountability, and
110 Liability 150 • Ethical Analysis 151 • Candidate Ethical
Interactive Session: People Principles 151 • Professional Codes of Conduct 152 • Some
Can Technology Replace Managers? 113 Real-World Ethical Dilemmas 152
The Internet’s Impact on Competitive Advantage 115 •
4-3 Why do contemporary information systems
The Business Value Chain Model 116 • Synergies, Core
technology and the Internet pose challenges
Competencies, and Network-Based Strategies 118 •
to the protection of individual privacy and
Disruptive Technologies: Riding the Wave 121
intellectual property? 153
Information Rights: Privacy and Freedom in the Internet
3-2 How do information systems help businesses
Age 153 • Property Rights: Intellectual Property 159
compete globally? 122
The Internet and Globalization 123 • Global Business and
4-4 How have information systems affected laws for
System Strategies 123 • Global System Configuration 124
establishing accountability and liability and the
3-3 How do information systems help businesses quality of everyday life? 162
Computer-Related Liability Problems 162 • System
compete using quality and design? 124
Quality: Data Quality and System Errors 163 • Quality of
What is Quality? 125 • How Information Systems Improve
Life: Equity, Access, and Boundaries 164
Quality 125
3-4 What is the role of business process Interactive Session: Technology
management (BPM) in enhancing Volkswagen Pollutes Its Reputation with Software to
competitiveness? 127 Evade Emissions Testing 168
What is Business Process Management? 127 Interactive Session: People
Interactive Session: Organizations Will Automation Kill Jobs? 170
Carter’s Redesigns Its Business Processes 130 Health Risks: RSI, CVS, and Cognitive Decline 171
3-5 How will MIS help my career? 131 4-5 How will MIS help my career? 172
The Company 132 • Position Description 132 • Job The Company 172 • Position Description 172 •
Requirements 132 • Interview Questions 132 • Job Requirements 173 • Interview Questions 173 •
Author Tips 132 Author Tips 173
6
Review Summary 173 • Key Review Summary 212 •
Terms 174 • Review Key Terms 213 • Review
Questions 174 • Discussion Questions 214 • Discussion
Questions 175 • Hands-On Questions 214 • Hands-On
MIS Projects 175 MIS Projects 215
Management Decision Problems Management Decision
175 • Achieving Operational Problems 215 • Improving
Excellence: Creating a Simple Decision Making: Using a Spreadsheet to Evaluate
Blog 176 • Improving Decision Hardware and Software Options 215 • Improving
Making: Analyzing Web Browser Privacy 176 Decision Making: Using Web Research to Budget For
Collaboration and Teamwork Project 176 a Sales Conference 216
Collaboration and Teamwork Project 216
Business Problem-Solving Case
Facebook Privacy: Your Life for Sale 177 Business Problem-Solving Case
Is BYOD Good for Business? 217
II Information Technology
6 Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases
Infrastructure 181 and Information Management 222

5 IT Infrastructure: Hardware and Software 182 Chapter-Opening Case:


Data Management Helps the Charlotte Hornets
Chapter-Opening Case: Learn More About Their Fans 223
Southeast Asia’s Grab Leverages Information
6-1 What is a database, and how does a relational
Technology to Enhance Its Services 183
database organize data? 225
5-1 What are the components of IT Entities and Attributes 225 • Organizing Data in a
infrastructure? 184 Relational Database 225 • Establishing Relationships 228
IT Infrastructure Components 185 6-2 What are the principles of a database
5-2 What are the major computer hardware, data management system? 231
storage, input, and output technologies used in Operations of a Relational DBMS 231 • Capabilities of
business and the major hardware trends? 187 Database Management Systems 232 • Non-Relational
Types of Computers 187 • Storage, Input, and Output Databases and Databases in the Cloud 235
Technology 189 • Contemporary Hardware Trends 189 6-3 What are the principal tools and technologies
Interactive Session: Technology for accessing information from databases to
Wearable Computers Change How We Work 191 improve business performance and decision
making? 236
Interactive Session: Organizations The Challenge of Big Data 236 • Business Intelligence
Glory Finds Solutions in the Cloud 196 Technology Infrastructure 237
5-3 What are the major types of computer software Interactive Session: Technology
used in business and the major software Societe Generale Builds an Intelligent System to
trends? 199 Manage Information Flow 239
Operating System Software 200 • Application
Analytical Tools: Relationships, Patterns, Trends 240 •
Software and Desktop Productivity Tools 201 •
Databases and the Web 243
HTML and HTML5 204 • Web Services 204 • Software
Trends 205
6-4 Why are information policy, data
5-4 What are the principal issues in managing administration, and data quality assurance
hardware and software technology? 207 essential for managing the firm’s data
Capacity Planning and Scalability 207 • Total Cost of
resources? 245
Establishing an Information Policy 245 • Ensuring Data
Ownership (TCO) of Technology Assets 208 • Using
Quality 245
Technology Service Providers 208 • Managing Mobile
Platforms 210 • Managing Software Localization for
6-5 How will MIS help my career? 246
The Company 246 • Position Description 246
Global Business 210
5-5 How will MIS help my career? 211 Interactive Session: Organizations
The Company 211 • Position Description 211 • Job Data-Driven Policing Goes Global 247
Requirements 211 • Interview Questions 211 • Author Job Requirements 248 • Interview Questions 248 •
Tips 212 Author Tips 248
7
Review Summary 249 • Review Summary 290 • Key
Key Terms 250 • Review Terms 292 • Review
Questions 250 • Discussion Questions 292 • Discussion
Questions 251 • Hands-On Questions 293 • Hands-On
MIS Projects 251 MIS Projects 293
Management Decision Management Decision
Problems 251 • Achieving Problems 293 • Improving
Operational Excellence: Building a Relational Decision Making: Using Spreadsheet Software to
Database for Inventory Management 252 • Improving Evaluate Wireless Services 294 • Achieving Operational
Decision Making: Searching Online Databases for Excellence: Using Web Search Engines for Business
Overseas Business Resources 252 Research 294
Collaboration and Teamwork Project 253 Collaboration and Teamwork Project 294
Business Problem-Solving Case Business Problem-Solving Case
How Reliable Is Big Data? 254 Google, Apple, and Facebook Battle for Your
Internet Experience 295
7 Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless
Technology 258 8 Securing Information Systems 300
Chapter-Opening Case: Chapter-Opening Case:
Alibaba: Redefining Traditional Retailing 259 Cyberattacks in the Asia-Pacific Target the Weakest
7-1 What are the principal components of Link: People 301
telecommunications networks and key 8-1 Why are information systems vulnerable to
networking technologies? 260 destruction, error, and abuse? 303
Networking and Communication Trends 260 • What Is Why Systems Are Vulnerable 303 • Malicious Software:
a Computer Network? 261 • Key Digital Networking Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, and Spyware 305 •
Technologies 263 Hackers and Computer Crime 307
7-2 What are the different types of networks? 265
Signals: Digital Versus Analog 266 • Types of Interactive Session: Technology
Networks 266 • Transmission Media and Transmission WannaCry and the SWIFT System Hacking Attacks:
Speed 267 Theft on a Worldwide Scale 308
7-3 How do the Internet and Internet technology Internal Threats: Employees 313 • Software
work, and how do they support communication Vulnerability 314
and e-business? 268 8-2 What is the business value of security and
What Is the Internet? 268 • Internet Addressing and control? 314
Architecture 269 Legal and Regulatory Requirements for Electronic
Interactive Session: Organizations Records Management 315 • Electronic Evidence and
The Global Battle Over Net Neutrality 271 Computer Forensics 316
8-3 What are the components of an organizational
Internet Services and Communication Tools 273
framework for security and control? 316
Interactive Session: People Information Systems Controls 317 • Risk
Monitoring Employees on Networks: Unethical or Assessment 318 • Security Policy 318 • Disaster Recovery
Good Business? 276 Planning and Business Continuity Planning 319 • The
The Web 277 Role of Auditing 320
7-4 What are the principal technologies 8-4 What are the most important tools and
and standards for wireless networking, technologies for safeguarding information
communication, and Internet access? 284 resources? 320
Cellular Systems 284 • Wireless Computer Networks Identity Management and Authentication 320 •
and Internet Access 285 • RFID and Wireless Sensor Firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems, and Antivirus
Networks 287 Software 322 • Securing Wireless Networks 324
7-5 How will MIS help my career? 289 • Encryption and Public Key Infrastructure 324 •
The Company 289 • Position Description 289 • Job Securing Transactions with Blockchain 326 • Ensuring
Requirements 290 • Interview Questions 290 • Author System Availability 326 • Security Issues for Cloud
Tips 290 Computing and the Mobile Digital Platform 327 •
Ensuring Software Quality 328
8
Interactive Session: Organizations Interactive Session: Organizations
How Secure Is BYOD? 329 Kenya Airways Flies High with Customer
8-5 How will MIS help my career? 330 Relationship Management 361
The Company 330 • Position Description 331 • 9-4 What are the challenges that enterprise
Job Requirements 331 • Interview Questions 331 • applications pose, and how are enterprise
Author Tips 331 applications taking advantage of new
Review Summary 331 • technologies? 362
Key Terms 332 • Review Enterprise Application Challenges 362 • Next-Generation
Questions 333 • Discussion Enterprise Applications 363
Questions 334 • Hands-On 9-5 How will MIS help my career? 365
MIS Projects 334 The Company 365 • Position Description 365 •
Job Requirements 365 • Interview Questions 365 •
Management Decision Problems
Author Tips 366
334 • Improving Decision
Making: Using Spreadsheet Software to Perform a Review Summary 366 •
Security Risk Assessment 335 • Improving Decision Key Terms 367 • Review
Making: Evaluating Security Outsourcing Services 335 Questions 367 • Discussion
Questions 368 • Hands-On
Collaboration and Teamwork Project 335
MIS Projects 368
Business Problem-Solving Case Management Decision
Information Security Threats and Policies in Problems 368 • Improving Decision Making: Using
Europe 336 Database Software to Manage Customer Service
Requests 369 • Achieving Operational Excellence:
III Key System Applications for Evaluating Supply Chain Management Services 369
the Digital Age 341 Collaboration and Teamwork Project 370

Business Problem-Solving Case


9 Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer How Supply Chain Management Problems Killed
Intimacy: Enterprise Applications 342 Target Canada 371
Chapter-Opening Case:
Alimentation Couche-Tard Competes Using 10 E-commerce: Digital Markets, Digital
Enterprise Systems 343 Goods 376
9-1 How do enterprise systems help businesses
achieve operational excellence? 345 Chapter-Opening Case:
What Are Enterprise Systems? 345 • Enterprise Uber Storms Europe. Europe Strikes Back 377
Software 346 • Business Value of Enterprise 10-1 What are the unique features of e-commerce,
Systems 347 digital markets, and digital goods? 379
9-2 How do supply chain management systems E-commerce Today 379 • The New E-commerce: Social,
coordinate planning, production, and logistics Mobile, Local 382 • Why E-commerce Is Different 382 •
with suppliers? 348 Key Concepts in E-commerce: Digital Markets and
The Supply Chain 348 • Information Systems and Supply Digital Goods in a Global Marketplace 385
Chain Management 350 • Supply Chain Management 10-2 What are the principal e-commerce business
Software 350 • Global Supply Chains and the Internet 352 and revenue models? 388
Types of E-commerce 388 • E-commerce Business
Interactive Session: Technology
Models 389
Physical Flow in Alibaba 354
Interactive Session: Organizations
Business Value of Supply Chain Management
Deliveroo: Australian Food Delivery Platform 392
Systems 355
9-3 How do customer relationship management E-commerce Revenue Models 393
systems help firms achieve customer 10-3 How has e-commerce transformed
intimacy? 356 marketing? 395
What Is Customer Relationship Management? 356 • Behavioral Targeting 395 • Social E-Commerce and
Customer Relationship Management Software 356 • Social Network Marketing 399
Operational and Analytical CRM 360 • Business Value of Interactive Session: People
Customer Relationship Management Systems 360 Getting Social with Customers 401
9
10-4 How has e-commerce affected business-to- 11-3 What are the business benefits of using
business transactions? 402 artificial intelligence techniques in decision
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) 403 • New Ways of making and knowledge management? 436
B2B Buying and Selling 403 Machine Learning 436
10-5 What is the role of m-commerce in business, Interactive Session: Technology
and what are the most important m-commerce Singapore Sports Institute Uses Analytics for SEA
applications? 405 Games 437
Location-Based Services and Applications 406 • Other
Neural Networks 438 • Genetic Algorithms 439 •
Mobile Commerce Services 407
Intelligent Agents 440 • Natural Language Processing,
10-6 What issues must be addressed when building
Computer Vision Systems, and Robotics 441
an e-commerce presence? 407
Develop an E-commerce Presence Map 407 • Develop a Interactive Session: People
Timeline: Milestones 408 Will Robots Replace People in Manufacturing? 442
10-7 How will MIS help my career? 409 Expert Systems 443
The Company 409 • Job Description 409 • Job 11-4 What types of systems are used for enterprise-
Requirements 409 • Interview Questions 409 • Author wide knowledge management and knowledge
Tips 410 work, and how do they provide value for
Review Summary 410 • businesses? 445
Key Terms 411 • Review Enterprise-Wide Knowledge
Questions 412 • Discussion Management Systems 445
Questions 412 • Hands-On • Knowledge Work Systems
MIS Projects 412 447
Management Decision Problems 11-5 How will MIS help my
412 • Improving Decision career? 449
Making: Using Spreadsheet Software to Analyze The Company 449 •
a Dot-com Business 413 • Achieving Operational Position Description 449 •
Excellence: Evaluating E-commerce Hosting Services 413 Job Requirements 450 • Interview Questions 450 • Author
Tips 450
Collaboration and Teamwork Project 414
Review Summary 450 • Key Terms 452 • Review
Business Problem-Solving Case Questions 452 • Discussion Questions 453 • Hands-On
An iDEAL Solution to the Single Online EU MIS Projects 453
Market? 415
Management Decision Problems 453 • Improving
Decision Making: Using Pivot Tables to Analyze
11 Improving Decision Making and Managing Sales Data 454 • Improving Decision Making: Using
Knowledge 420 Intelligent Agents for Comparison Shopping 454
Chapter-Opening Case: Collaboration and Teamwork Project 454
Roche: Changing Medical Care with Mobile
Business Problem-Solving Case
Technology and Big Data 421
GE Bets on the Internet of Things and Big Data
11-1 What are the different types of decisions, Analytics 455
and how does the decision-making process
work? 423
Business Value of Improved Decision Making 423 • Types IV Building and Managing
of Decisions 423 • The Decision-Making Process 425 • Systems 461
High-Velocity Automated Decision Making 426 • Quality
of Decisions and Decision Making 426
11-2 How do business intelligence and business 12 Building Information Systems and Managing
analytics support decision making? 427 Projects 462
What is Business Intelligence? 427 • The Business
Chapter-Opening Case:
Intelligence Environment 427 • Business Intelligence and
Eastspring: Targeted Enterprise System
Analytics Capabilities 429 • Business Intelligence Users
Building 463
432 • Group Decision-Support Systems 436
12-1 What are the core problem-solving steps for
developing new information systems? 464

10
Defining and Understanding the Problem 465 • Developing 12-5 How will MIS help my
Alternative Solutions 467 • Evaluating and Choosing career? 492
Solutions 467 • Implementing the Solution 468 The Company 492 •
12-2 What are the alternative methods for building Position Description 492
information systems? 470 • Job Requirements 492 •
Traditional Systems Development Life Cycle 471 • Interview Questions 492 •
Prototyping 471 • End-User Development 472 • Author
Application Software Packages, Software Services, and Tips 493
Outsourcing 473 • Mobile Application Development: Review Summary 493 •
Designing for a Multi-Screen World 475 Key Terms 494 • Review Questions 495 • Discussion
Interactive Session: Technology Questions 495 • Hands-On MIS Projects 496
Developing Mobile Apps: What’s Different 476 Management Decision Problems 496 • Improving
Rapid Application Development for E-Business 477 Decision Making: Using Database Software to Design
12-3 What are the principal methodologies for a Customer System for Auto Sales 496 • Achieving
modeling and designing systems? 478 Operational Excellence: Analyzing Website Design and
Structured Methodologies 478 • Object-Oriented Information Requirements 497
Development 479 • Computer-Aided Software Collaboration and Teamwork Project 497
Engineering (CASE) 481
12-4 How should information systems projects be Business Problem-Solving Case
selected and managed? 481 ConAgra’s Recipe for a Better Human Resources
Project Management Objectives 482 • Selecting Projects: System 498
Making the Business Case for a New System 482 •
Managing Project Risk and System-Related Change 485 Glossary 503
Interactive Session: Organizations Indexes 518
Fujitsu Selects a SaaS Solution to Simplify the Sales
Process 490

11
Business Cases and Interactive Sessions
Here are some of the business firms you will find described in the cases and Interactive
Sessions of this book:
Chapter 1 Business Information Systems in Your Career
Premier League: The Power of IT Analytics
Can You Run Your Company with Your iPhone?
Digital Transformation of Healthcare at Singapore’s JurongHealth Services
Did Information Systems Cause Deutsche Bank to Stumble?
Chapter 2 Global E-business and Collaboration
Enterprise Social Networking Helps Sanofi Pasteur Innovate and Improve Quality
Data Changes How NFL Teams Play the Game and How Fans See It
Collaborating the Glasscubes Way
Can a Rugby Union Teach Businesses How to Turn Customers into Supporters?
Chapter 3 Achieving Competitive Advantage with Information Systems
Tate & Lyle Devise a Global IT Strategy
Can Technology Replace Managers?
Carter’s Redesigns Its Business Processes
Walmart Versus Amazon and the Future of Retail
Chapter 4 Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems
The Dark Side of Big Data
Volkswagen Pollutes Its Reputation with Software to Evade Emissions Testing
Will Automation Kill Jobs?
Facebook Privacy: Your Life for Sale
Chapter 5 IT Infrastructure: Hardware and Software
Southeast Asia’s Grab Leverages Information Technology to Enhance Its Services
Wearable Computers Change How We Work
Glory Finds Solutions in the Cloud
Is BYOD Good for Business?
Chapter 6 Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information
Management
Data Management Helps the Charlotte Hornets Learn More About Their Fans
Societe General Builds An Intelligent System to Manage Information Flow
Data-Driven Policing Goes Global
How Reliable Is Big Data?
Chapter 7 Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless Technology
Alibaba: Redefining Traditional Retailing
The Global Battle Over Net Neutrality
Monitoring Employees on Networks: Unethical or Good Business?
Google, Apple, and Facebook Battle for Your Internet Experience
Chapter 8 Securing Information Systems
Cyberattacks in the Asia-Pacific Target the Weakest Link: People
WannaCry and the SWIFT System Hacking Attacks: Theft on a Worldwide Scale
How Secure Is BYOD?
Information Security Threats and Policies in Europe
12
Chapter 9 Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy:
Enterprise Applications
Alimentation Couche-Tard Competes Using Enterprise Systems
Physical Flow in Alibaba
Kenya Airways Flies High with Customer Relationship Management
How Supply Chain Management Problems Killed Target Canada
Chapter 10 E-commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods
Uber Storms Europe. Europe Strikes Back
Deliveroo: Australian Food Delivery Platform
Getting Social with Customers
An iDEAL Solution to the Single Online EU Market?
Chapter 11 Improving Decision Making and Managing Knowledge
Roche: Managing Diabetes with Big Data and Mobile Apps
Singapore Sports Institute Uses Analytics for SEA Games
Will Robots Replace People in Manufacturing?
GE Bets on the Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics
Chapter 12 Building Information Systems and Managing Projects
Eastspring: Targeted Enterprise System Building
Developing Mobile Apps: What’s Different
Fujitsu Selects a SaaS Solution to Simplify the Sales Process
ConAgra’s Recipe for a Better Human Resources Systems

13
Preface
The Global Edition is written for business school students in Europe, the Middle East,
South Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Asian region. Case studies and examples focus
on how firms in these regions use information systems. We wrote this book for busi-
ness school students who wanted an in-depth look at how today’s business firms use
information technologies and systems to achieve corporate objectives. Information
systems are one of the major tools available to business managers for achieving opera-
tional excellence, developing new products and services, improving decision making,
and achieving competitive advantage. Students will find here the most up-to-date and
comprehensive overview of information systems used by business firms today. After
reading this book, we expect students will be able to participate in, and even lead, man-
agement discussions of information systems for their firms.
When interviewing potential employees, business firms often look for new hires
who know how to use information systems and technologies for achieving bottom-line
business results. Regardless of whether you are an accounting, finance, management,
operations management, marketing, or information systems major, the knowledge and
information you find in this book will be valuable throughout your business career.

What’s New in This Edition


CURRENCY
The 13th edition features all new opening, closing, and Interactive Session cases. The
text, figures, tables, and cases have been updated through September 2017 with the lat-
est sources from industry and MIS research.

NEW FEATURES
• New Career Opportunities section in each chapter, identified by shows students
specifically how this book can help them find a job and build their careers. The
last major section of each chapter presents a description of an entry-level job for
a recent college graduate based on a real-world job description. The job require-
ments are related to the topics covered in that chapter. The job description shows
the required educational background and skills, lists business-related questions
that might arise during the job interview, and provides author tips for answering
the questions and preparing for the interview.
• New Conceptual Videos collection includes 45 conceptual videos of 3 to 5 minutes
in length. Ken Laudon walks students through three of the most important con-
cepts in each chapter using a contemporary animation platform. Available only in
the MyLabMIS digital edition
• New Video Cases collection: 28 video cases (two or more per chapter) and 10 addi-
tional instructional videos covering key concepts and experiences in the MIS
world. The video cases illustrate how real-world corporations and managers are
using information technology and systems. Video Cases are listed at the begin-
ning of each chapter.
• Learning Tracks: 53 Learning Tracks in MyLabMIS for additional coverage of
selected topics. This edition includes new Learning Tracks for case-based reason-
ing and fuzzy logic.

NEW TOPICS
• Updated coverage of artificial intelligenc (AI): Chapter 11 has been rewritten to
include new coverage of machine learning, natural language systems, computer
vision systems, and robotics, reflecting the surging interest in business uses of AI
and “intelligent” techniques.
14
• Big Data and the Internet of Things: In-depth coverage of big data, big data ana-
lytics, and the Internet of Things (IoT) in Chapters 1, 6, 7, and 11. Includes big
data analytics, analyzing IoT data streams, Hadoop, in-memory computing, non-
relational databases, data lakes, and analytic platforms.
• Cloud Computing: Updated and expanded coverage of cloud computing in Chapter 5
(IT infrastructure) with more detail on types of cloud services, private and pub-
lic clouds, hybrid clouds, managing cloud services, and a new Interactive Session
on using cloud services. Cloud computing also covered in Chapter 6 (databases
in the cloud), Chapter 8 (cloud security), Chapter 9 (cloud-based CRM and ERP),
Chapter 10 (e-commerce), and Chapter 12 (cloud-based systems development).
• Social, Mobile, Local: New e-commerce content in Chapter 10 describing how
social tools, mobile technology, and location-based services are transforming
marketing and advertising.
• Social Business: Expanded coverage of social business, introduced in Chapter 2
and discussed in throughout the text. Detailed discussions of enterprise (internal
corporate) social networking as well as social networking in e-commerce.
• Machine learning
• Natural language processing
• Computer vision systems
• Robotics
• Chatbots
• Blockchain
• Data lake
• Distributed database
• DevOps
• FinTech
• Near field communication (NFC)
• Native advertising
• Platforms
• Software-defined storage (SDS)

The 13th Edition: The Comprehensive Solution for the


MIS Curriculum
Since its inception, this text has helped to define the MIS course around the globe. This
edition continues to be authoritative but is also more customizable, flexible, and geared
to meeting the needs of different colleges, universities, and individual instructors. Many
of its learning tools are now available in digital form. This book is now part of a complete
learning package that includes the core text, Video Case Package, and Learning Tracks.
The core text consists of 12 chapters with hands-on projects covering the most
essential topics in MIS. An important part of the core text is the Video Case Study and
Instructional Video Package: 28 video case studies (two to three per chapter) plus 10
instructional videos that illustrate business uses of information systems, explain new
technologies, and explore concepts. Videos are keyed to the topics of each chapter.
In addition, for students and instructors who want to go deeper into selected top-
ics, there are 53 Learning Tracks in MyLabMIS that cover a variety of MIS topics in
greater depth.

THE CORE TEXT


The core text provides an overview of fundamental MIS concepts using an integrated
framework for describing and analyzing information systems. This framework shows
information systems composed of people, organization, and technology elements and
is reinforced in student projects and case studies.
15
Business
Problem

• Adopt omnichannel • Omnichannel retail strategy


strategy People • High level of inventory inaccuracy
• Select wireless
technology

• Revise inventory
Information Business
management Organization System Solutions
processes
• Train employees
P2LU • Increase sales
• Track individual items • Lower costs
on store shelves
• RFID tags • Increase inventory accuracy
and readers
Technology
• Tyco TrueVue

A diagram accompanying each chapter-opening case graphically illustrates how people, organization,
and technology elements work together to create an information system solution to the business challenges
discussed in the case.

Chapter Organization
Each chapter contains the following elements:
• A Chapter Outline based on Learning Objectives
• Lists of all the Case Studies and Video Cases for each chapter
• A chapter-opening case describing a real-world organization to establish the
theme and importance of the chapter
• A diagram analyzing the opening case in terms of the people, organization, and
technology model used throughout the text
• Two Interactive Sessions with Case Study Questions
• A Career Opportunities section showing students how to use the text for job hunting
and career preparation
• A Review Summary keyed to the Student Learning Objectives
• A list of Key Terms that students can use to review concepts
• Review questions for students to test their comprehension of chapter material
• Discussion questions raised by the broader themes of the chapter
• A series of Hands-on MIS Projects consisting of two Management Decision
Problems, a hands-on application software project, and a project to develop
Internet skills
• A Collaboration and Teamwork Project to develop teamwork and presentation
skills with options for using open source collaboration tools
• A chapter-ending case study for students to apply chapter concepts
• Two assisted-graded writing questions with prebuilt grading rubrics
• Chapter references

KEY FEATURES
We have enhanced the text to make it more interactive, leading edge, and appealing
to both students and instructors. The features and learning tools are described in the
following sections.
16
Business-Driven with Real-World Business Cases and Examples
The text helps students see the direct connection between information systems and
business performance. It describes the main business objectives driving the use of
information systems and technologies in corporations all over the world: operational
excellence, new products and services, customer and supplier intimacy, improved
decision making, competitive advantage, and survival. In-text examples and case
studies show students how specific companies use information systems to achieve
these objectives.
We use current (2017) examples from business and public organizations through-
out the text to illustrate the important concepts in each chapter. All the case studies
describe companies or organizations that are familiar to students, such as Uber, the
NFL, Facebook, Crayola, Walmart, Amazon, Google, Macy’s, and GE.

Interactivity
There’s no better way to learn about MIS than by doing MIS! We provide different
kinds of hands-on projects where students can work with real-world business sce-
narios and data and learn firsthand what MIS is all about. These projects heighten
student involvement in this exciting subject.
• Online Video Case Package. Students can watch short videos online, either in-
class or at home or work, and then apply the concepts of the book to the analysis
of the video. Every chapter contains at least two business video cases that explain
how business firms and managers are using information systems and explore con-
cepts discussed in the chapter. Each video case consists of one or more videos
about a real-world company, a background text case, and case study questions.
These video cases enhance students’ understanding of MIS topics and the rele-
vance of MIS to the business world. In addition, there are 10 Instructional Videos
that describe developments and concepts in MIS keyed to respective chapters.
• Online Conceptual Videos [the digital edition only]. Forty-five video animations
where the authors walk students through three concepts from each chapter.
• Interactive Sessions. Two short cases in each chapter have been redesigned as
Interactive Sessions to be used in the classroom (or on Internet discussion boards)
to stimulate student interest and active learning. Each case concludes with case
study questions. The case study questions provide topics for class discussion,
Internet discussion, or written assignments.
• Hands-On MIS Projects. Every chapter concludes with a Hands-On MIS Proj-
ects section containing three types of projects: two Management Decision Prob-
lems; a hands-on application software exercise using Microsoft Excel, Access, or
web page and blog creation tools; and a project that develops Internet business
skills. A Dirt Bikes USA running case in MyLabMIS provides additional hands-
on projects for each chapter.

Each chapter contains


two Interactive Sessions
on, People, Organiza-
tions, or Technology
using real-world
companies to illustrate
chapter concepts and
issues.

17
Case Study Questions
encourage students to
apply chapter concepts
to real-world companies
in class discussions,
student presentations,
or writing assignments.

Two real-world business


scenarios per chapter
provide opportunities
for students to apply
chapter concepts and
practice management
decision making.

Students practice using


software in real-world
settings for achieving
operational excellence
and enhancing decision
making.

18
IMPROVING DECISION MAKING: USING WEB TOOLS TO CONFIGURE AND
PRICE AN AUTOMOBILE
Software skills: Internet-based software
Business skills: Researching product information and pricing
3-11 In this exercise, you will use software at car-selling websites to find product infor- Each chapter features
mation about a car of your choice and use that information to make an important a project to develop
purchase decision. You will also evaluate two of these sites as selling tools. Internet skills for
You are interested in purchasing a new Ford Escape (or some other car accessing information,
of your choice). Go to the website of CarsDirect (www.carsdirect.com) and begin conducting research,
your investigation. Locate the Ford Escape. Research the various Escape models; and performing online
choose one you prefer in terms of price, features, and safety ratings. Locate and calculations and analysis.
read at least two reviews. Surf the website of the manufacturer, in this case Ford
(www.ford.com). Compare the information available on Ford’s website with that
of CarsDirect for the Ford Escape. Try to locate the lowest price for the car you
want in a local dealer’s inventory. Suggest improvements for CarsDirect.com and
Ford.com.

• Collaboration and Teamwork Projects. Each chapter features a collaborative proj-


ect that encourages students working in teams to use Google Drive, Google Docs,
or other open source collaboration tools. The first team project in Chapter 1 asks
students to build a collaborative Google site.

Career Opportunities and Resources


Every student who reads this text wants to know: How will this book help my career?
Our new Career Opportunities feature shows you how to use this text as a tool for job-
hunting and career-building. Job interviewers will typically ask about why you want
the job, along with your ability to communicate, multitask, work in a team, show
leadership, solve problems, and meet goals. These are general skills and behaviors
you’ll need to succeed in any job, and you should be prepared to provide examples
from your course work and job experiences that demonstrate these skills. But there
are also business knowledge and professional skills that employers will ask you about.
Career Opportunities will show you how to use what you have learned in this text to
demonstrate these skills.
The Career Opportunities section, identified by this icon is the last major section
of each chapter under the heading “How will MIS help my career?”. There you will
find a description of an entry-level job for a recent college graduate based on a real-
world job description from major online job sites related to the topics covered in that
chapter. The name of the company offering the job and its location have been changed.
Each chapter’s job posting describes the required educational background and spe-
cific job skills, and suggests some of the business-related questions that might arise
during the job interview. The authors provide tips for answering the questions and
preparing for the interview. Career Opportunities also show where students can find
out more information about the technical and business knowledge required for the job
in this text and on the web and social media.
Below are the job descriptions used in this edition based on postings from both
large and small businesses. A few of these jobs call for an MIS major, others for MIS
course work, but many postings are not that specific. Some require some previous
internship or job experience, but many are entry level positions suitable for new college
graduates, and some of these positions provide on-the-job training. However, all
require knowledge of business information systems and applications and the ability to
work in a digital environment.
19
Chapter Career Opportunity Job Description
1 Business Information Systems in Your Career Financial Client Support and Sales Assistant
2 Global E-business and Collaboration Entry Level Sales Support Specialist
3 Achieving Competitive Advantage with Information Systems Entry Level Business Development Representative
4 Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems Junior Privacy Analyst
5 IT Infrastructure: Hardware and Software Entry Level IT Consultant
6 Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Entry Level Data Analyst
Management
7 Telecommunications , the Internet, and Wireless Technology Automotive Digital Advisor
8 Securing Information Systems Entry Level Identity Access and Management Support Specialist
9 Achieving Operational Excellence and Customer Intimacy: Enterprise Manufacturing Management Trainee
Applications
10 E-Commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods Junior E-Commerce Data Analyst
11 Improving Decision Making and Managing Knowledge Entry Level Data Analyst
12 Building Information Systems and Managing Projects Entry Level Junior Business Systems Analyst

Students can use Career Opportunities to shape their resumes and career plans as
well as to prepare for interviews. For instructors, Career Opportunities are potential
projects for student research and in-class discussion.
Along with Career Opportunities, we have provided in MyLabMIS additional
Career Resources, including job-hunting guides and instructions on how to build
a Digital Portfolio demonstrating the business knowledge, application software
proficiency, and Internet skills acquired from using the text. The portfolio can be
included in a resume or job application or used as a learning assessment tool for
instructors.

Assessment and AACSB Assessment Guidelines


The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is a not-for-
profit corporation of educational institutions, corporations, and other organizations
that seeks to improve business education primarily by accrediting university busi-
ness programs. As a part of its accreditation activities, the AACSB has developed
an Assurance of Learning Program designed to ensure that schools do in fact teach
students what they promise. Schools are required to state a clear mission, develop a
coherent business program, identify student learning objectives, and then prove that
students do in fact achieve the objectives.
We have attempted in this book to support AACSB efforts to encourage assess-
ment-based education. The front papers of this edition identify student learning objec-
tives and anticipated outcomes for our Hands-On MIS projects. The authors will
provide custom advice on how to use this text in colleges with different missions and
assessment needs. Please e-mail the authors or contact your local Pearson representa-
tive for contact information.

Customization and Flexibility: Learning Track Modules


Our Learning Tracks feature gives instructors the flexibility to provide in-depth
coverage of the topics they choose. There are 53 Learning Tracks in MyLabMIS
available to instructors and students. This supplementary content takes students

20
deeper into MIS topics, concepts, and debates and reviews basic technology concepts
in hardware, software, database design, telecommunications, and other areas.

Author-Certified Test Bank and Supplements


• Author-Certified Test Bank. The authors have worked closely with skilled test item
writers to ensure that higher-level cognitive skills are tested. Test bank multiple-
choice questions include questions on content but also include many questions
that require analysis, synthesis, and evaluation skills.
• Annotated Slides. The authors have prepared a comprehensive collection of 50
PowerPoint slides for each chapter to be used in your lectures. Many of these slides
are the same as used by Ken Laudon in his MIS classes and executive education
presentations. Each of the slides is annotated with teaching suggestions for asking
students questions, developing in-class lists that illustrate key concepts, and rec-
ommending other firms as examples in addition to those provided in the text. The
annotations are like an Instructor’s Manual built into the slides and make it easier
to teach the course effectively.

Student Learning-Focused
Student Learning Objectives are organized around a set of study questions to focus
student attention. Each chapter concludes with a Review Summary and Review
Questions organized around these study questions, and each major chapter section is
based on a Learning Objective.

INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES
At the Instructor Resource Center, www.pearsonglobaleditions.com/laudon, instruc-
tors can easily register to gain access to a variety of instructor resources available
with this text in downloadable format. If assistance is needed, our dedicated techni-
cal support team is ready to help with the media supplements that accompany this
text. Visit support.pearson.com/getsupport for answers to frequently asked questions
and user support.
The following supplements are available with this text:
• Instructor’s Resource Manual
• Test Bank
• TestGen® Computerized Test Bank
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Image Library
• Lecture Notes

Video Cases and Instructional Videos


Instructors can download step-by-step instructions for accessing the video cases from
the Instructor Resources Center. Video Cases and Instructional Videos are listed at
the beginning of each chapter as well as in the Preface.

Learning Tracks Modules


There are 53 Learning Tracks in MyLabMIS providing additional coverage topics for
students and instructors. See page 23 for a list of the Learning Tracks available for
this edition.

21
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
III.—VAN DYCK, Cornelius van der Geest. National Gallery, London.

And now, if we stop to consider the great men in the arts, we shall
invariably find that each one of them is marked by some quality of
universal significance. There is something about them all that
overleaps the provincial, the accidental, the small, and the trifling.
They disregard in a measure the local truths and aim at the general
truths—at things essentially true for all humanity. Our Shakespeares
and Platos and St. Pauls survey the world from mountain tops. From
these vantage points their perspective is far-reaching, their view of
the world expansive. They see and grasp the essentials, the basic
elements, the foundations of things. It is this, for one thing, that
makes the art of Titian so superlatively great. What wonderful men
and women people his pantheon! What types they are of manhood
and womanhood! What embodiments of loftiness, dignity, and
nobility! And are they not universally admired? No matter what a
man’s nationality, he cannot choose but be interested in “The Man
with a Glove” or the “Charles V.” at Madrid. There is something in
them of that truth seen from mountain heights which every one will
recognize as the nobler part of his little valley-world.
Just so with the art of Rembrandt. His type is essentially of the
Low Countries; his costumes, landscapes, light-and-shade, and
methods are all localized in Holland. But a sadder painter you cannot
find in all the reach of painting. His emotional nature had been wrung
by trial and suffering and his sympathies were with the down-trodden
and the grief-stricken. There never was a painter who painted so
much of sorrow in the faces of his people as Rembrandt. The “Christ
at Emmaus” is, in form and figure, only a poor emaciated Amsterdam
Jew; but in emotional truth it is the one Christ of all painting. That
face appeals to Christian, Mahometan, Jew, and infidel alike, not
because of its divinity but because of its intense humanity. Should
we bring up the names of the other great masters of painting we
should find that each one of them is remarkable for some quality of
universal significance—Michael Angelo for his great command of
form, Rubens for his great splendor of effect, Velasquez for his
sense of vitality in the physical presence (Plate 13), Raphael for his
unity and his harmony.
The great men are remarkable for their breadth—the wide angle of
their vision. They see, not differently from others, but they see more.
Yet it is only a point of view, a limited outlook, and not by any means
the total sum of truth. The report of nature made by man, which we
have defined as “truth,” is always a report of some sort whoever
makes it. The difference between the great minds and the small
ones consists in what is seen and reported. A Rousseau who sees
and tells of the solidity of the earth, the volume of the forest, the
great luminous expanse of the sky, does not think to tell everything
that may be in the landscape. He sees the great truths, those truths
that are of universal permanence in all landscape, and emphasizes
them at the expense of the smaller details. A man of narrower vision
would perhaps overlook the sky and earth, and fail to see the forest
for the trees. He might centre all his interest in blades of grass, in
dew-drops and spider-webs and opening buttercups—the infinitely
little things in the landscape.
In portraiture men like Gerard Dou and Denner emphasize the
small skin-facts of a man’s face with such minute workmanship that
you may study them with a magnifying-glass. You will never see
anything like this in the portraits by Titian, Rembrandt, Velasquez,
Van Dyck (Plates 3, 13, 18). They waste no time on small truths.
They are intent upon giving the large physical presence, not the
petty deformities of the epidermis.
Again in drawing a hand and arm you will observe that men like
Gérôme give every curve and break of light along the arm, every
accidental contortion of muscle, every wrinkle and twist of flesh; but
somehow, when all these features are put down, the arm fails to live,
fails to move. It is a petrified arm. For an opposite statement of truth
look at the arm of Millet’s “Sower.” There is nothing absolute or
minute about the drawing. The arm is generalized, summarized,
synthetized as it were. The wrinkles in it are not apparent, the
covering of it is vague, the hand is not articulated in the muscles or
even definite in the drawing of the fingers. In short the whole arm
and hand are cut down to a few elementary lines, so that they
appear to the uninitiated somewhat sketchy and peremptory. But
looked at for those qualities which Millet thought more important than
surface texture, looked at for bulk, mass, weight, motion—
particularly motion—and there is a larger view apparent. The arm
and hand certainly have motion and life. And these are precisely
what Gérôme’s arm and hand have not. Can it not be claimed then
that the truth of life and motion is a greater truth than the truth of
momentary rigidity? Is it not a fact that Millet has seized upon a
general and universal truth characteristic of all arms and hands—that
is, the truth of life and movement—whereas Gérôme has seized
upon an accidental truth of light-and-shade which may be something
local and peculiar to that one hand and arm?

IV.—MILLET, The Gleaners. Louvre, Paris.

If one shows us a snap-photograph of breaking waves, what do


we see if not the highest and most brittle wave the camera man
could catch? Does this give us a general or a particular truth of the
sea? Do waves stand rigidly in air, petrified from base to crest, as we
see in the photograph, or do they roll and keep on rolling indefinitely
and ceaselessly? Does not the very essence of truth about a wave
lie in its restless heave and toss, its breaking and reforming, its
eternal indefiniteness of form? How many sea pictures have we seen
with every wave in place—pounded into place like hammered steel—
with every facet shining like a mirror, and not a possibility of motion
in anything? Perhaps we have rather enjoyed them and fancied, in
crossing the ocean, that the waves looked like that. Perhaps they
did; perhaps we were content to see only the small truths of the
ocean; but a study of the marines by Courbet, Manet, and Monet
may convince us that there are larger truths of the ocean than those
relating to its mirror-like sparkles—larger truths in the ocean’s depth,
power, and its restless, ceaseless motion. These painters have
discarded small things on the surface of the water, as Frans Hals the
small spots on a man’s face, in order to give the sense of form back
of it (Plate 22).
In the same way you will often find painters discarding the exact
drawing of objects such as wood or cloth or stone or metal in order
that they may give the weight, the elasticity, or the density of these
objects. A feather or a leaf may be an epitome of floating, dancing
lightness, but if you draw its complete anatomy and paint all its
surface texture you will have something that is as heavy as wrought
iron. It does not follow either, because Desgoffes gives us the sheen
and flash of brasses, china, and satins, that he has told all or the
most vital truths about those articles. Vollon may paint the same
things in a fuller manner, showing us something of structural
character which is just as important and just as true as surface
appearance. Moreover, the broader method leaves something to
implication and suggestion, where the other method buries under an
accumulation of fact.
Please note the word “suggestion,” for it is by suggestion that the
greatest truths of art are brought home to us. The realist, whom we
have been hastily considering, does not care for this method of
approach. He is bent upon realization. He is analytical in his
statement of each and every fact and makes a full report. All painters
do this in some degree during the early stages of their career, but as
they advance in years and experience there is a tendency to a
broader treatment, a return to the simple line of the child, to the
synthesis of a Millet, as shown in the arms, hands, and backs of the
women in “The Gleaners” (Plate 4), to the implication and suggestion
of a Corot, as shown in the sky of the “Biblis.” Facts are summarized.
A mere charcoal outline drawn by Degas gives us the reliefs,
proportions, weight, and bulk of a human figure; a shadow with
Giorgione or Rembrandt sums up the series of facts beneath it, and
becomes suggestive by its very mystery and uncertainty; a blended
blur of color by Whistler may bring to mind a heaving wave in mid-
ocean better than all the drawn and tinted and “realized” waves of all
the realists.
It is not the heaping of fact upon fact that flashes the truth upon us
—at least not in art, though it may in logic or in law. Indeed, the
accumulation of evidence often confuses. It is common studio
experience that a sketch of a picture is frequently better than the
picture itself. The attempt to “finish” (that is, to put in all the details
and minutiæ) makes it dull and unsuggestive. The unfinished
marbles of Michael Angelo, do they really suffer much by being
unfinished? I have sometimes thought that the figure of “Day” in the
Medici Chapel gained by its incompleteness—that it was better than
the “Night” upon the opposite side of the tomb because the
sculptor’s intention is perfectly obvious and yet the spectator’s
imagination is not stifled. There, like a fallen god, he lies, half
embedded in his matrix of stone with a suggestion of mighty power,
never so strongly felt in any other marble in this world. The lack of
finish, the mystery, the uncertainty, help on the imagination. One may
fancy, as many have done, that the figure symbolizes the loss of
Florentine freedom, and that the grand captive, with his massive
brow and sunken eyes, half-rises wearily to view the morning light
shining for him in vain. And again one may imagine he is a new
Prometheus bound to the rock; one of the Gigantes; or perhaps a
conquered Titan lying along the hills of Tartarus in the drear twilight,
brooding in melancholy silence over the loss of Olympus. To
whatever the mind may conjure up regarding the figure, the element
of reserved strength will lend assistance. Cut the captive from his
bed of stone and the strength falls short, lacking the foil of
resistance; finish the marble and an existent fact precludes the
possibility of wide imagination.
The great English master of art, how well he knew what to leave
out! The lovers Lorenzo and Jessica are in the still, evening air, and
with what consummate skill Shakespeare paints the landscape with
that one suggestive line:

“How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank.”

Not a word about the trees or grasses or ponds or meadows; not a


word about the stillness of the night, the hushed winds, and the
shining stars; but do you not see them all? Do they not rise up before
your eyes as by magic? Your realist would have put us to sleep with
dreary descriptions of grass and groves and glittering dew-drops
instead of the moonlight. And Shakespeare himself might have
written a volume of description and still not roused us to his meaning
so quickly as with that one suggestive line. The value of the sign in
art, whether it be pictorial, sculptural, or literary, lies in its suggestive
quality; and the “Sower” of Millet, the “Day” of Michael Angelo, and
the moonlight of Shakespeare are merely so many suggestive signs.
V.—PAOLO VERONESE, Marriage in Cana. Louvre, Paris.

Thus far our inquiry has extended no farther than the truth of
nature—the truth of appearance as shown in realistic art. But there
are other truths with which the picture has to do that perhaps call for
a moment’s consideration. The truth of history for which the public
contends so valiantly need not detain us long. That Paolo Veronese
and his contemporaries chose to garb the sacred characters of the
“Marriage in Cana” (Plate 5) or “Moses saved from the Nile” (Plate
23), in Venetian costume, is matter of small importance. And it is of
still less importance whether Christ and the Apostles show the
Semitic cast of countenance or not. The intense reverence for local
and ethnographical truth possessed by the Holman Hunts and Alma-
Tademas of the art world would seem somewhat misplaced. No
matter what care is bestowed upon the archæology, there is always
something not quite true to the fact. And moreover, all art in all times
has pictured its own race, costume, and country. It would not be
worth much unless it did. The marble gods of Greece are all Greek,
the painted Madonnas of Italy are all Italian. How otherwise would
you have it? Marlowe’s Mephistopheles talks English, and Goethe’s
Mephistopheles talks German. What language should they talk?
When art deals with the past it translates it into the present. It could
not possibly do otherwise. No Anglo-Saxon could feel, think, or work
like a Greek, simply because he is an Anglo-Saxon.
There is another truth of far more consequence than historical
accuracy, and that is the truth of art. This comes in here opportunely
enough, for art-truth is produced by the suggestive method of
dealing with facts which I have just been illustrating. The method is
absolutely essential to all strong work in all departments. It is usually
known in painting as the “law of sacrifice”; and you will find it in
literature under the name of “dramatic force.” We should never have
had such characters as Faust and Macbeth had all the other
characters in the plays been treated with an importance equal to that
of the heroes. Hamlet is an elevated Hamlet simply because the
other characters are subordinate characters, just as Corot’s light is
light, because everything else in the picture is sacrificed to it. There
is no quarrel with truth to nature in this truth to art. Great art seldom
falsifies, but it always selects, emphasizing some features and
subordinating other features. It usually gives the large truths and
merely implies the small ones. Millet in his “Sower” has no notion of
telling you more than a few prominent facts about the man and his
work. He shows a peasant, working under the shadow of a hill,
working late in the evening, swinging and sowing with rhythmic
motion of foot, hand, arm and body. It is matter of no importance
whether he wears linen or woollen or cotton, whether his blouse has
buttons upon it or not, whether his face is clean or not. The all-
pervading truth of the picture lies in the swinging form of the sower,
and to keep your attention upon that he omits everything else. The
figure is but a suggestion, a something that stands as an equivalent
for that man whom Millet thought should be recognized for his
patience and fortitude of spirit, his nobility and dignity in the hard
labor of life, his fine pictorial qualities as seen against the
background of his native heath. That is the ulterior meaning which he
would show us. The sign is true to the great truth of a sower, the
meaning is true within the limits of pictorial creation, and finally the
recording of it is true to the truth of art.
This method of procedure, wherein suggestion becomes such an
important factor, implies two people in the work of art rather than
one. The spectator must do his part as well as the artist. The latter
suggests, the former takes up the suggestion and builds upon it.
When Velasquez painted Christ on the cross, hanging there alone in
the night, the head bowed forward on the breast, and the long dark
hair tailing over the face and half covering it, he did not think to
obliterate the face—to take it out of the picture completely. He knew
very well that the imagination of the spectator would go behind the
veil and picture that face more vividly than he could paint it. What
painter ever yet produced a wholly satisfactory face of Christ?
Velasquez was wise in leaving it to the imagination of the spectator.
How wise he was you can perhaps gather by contrasting his “Christ
on the Cross” with the same subject by Léon Bonnat—one of the
noblest of the latter-day realists. Bonnat simply took a dead body
from the morgue and hung it upon a cross in the court-yard of the
École de Médecine, and painted it exactly as he saw it. But it is not
Christ; it is the dead body he took from the morgue. There is strain of
arm and leg and torso, the anatomy is wrenched, the muscles are
contorted, the veins are swollen. But there is no suggestion of
anything that had been noble or exalted in the living. In fact there is
not a suggestion of any kind. Everything is told and the spectator’s
imagination is not called upon. Realism has been pushed into the
last ditch, and yet has produced only a sign standing for Christ on
the cross, and not the real thing—a sign which, in gaining an
elaborate truth to fact, has lost its truth to art and its power of
suggestion.
VI.—CARPACCIO, St. Ursula and Prince of England (detail). Academy, Venice.

We may as well conclude then, without further illustration, that the


exact portrayal of nature known as realism falls somewhat short of
its mark. It may report and report, but it cannot realize. Light, air,
hills, mountains, human beings and their habitations cannot be
reproduced, but they may be translated through the medium of
pigment and thus rendered intelligible to us. You may translate them
“realistically” or you may translate them suggestively, but in either
case it is the translation that you will have, and not the original. Each
art—music, poetry, painting—has its peculiar method of translation,
and we have called the result in each case a sign—a convention
which we have agreed to recognize as meaning thus and so; but of
course the signs in painting are not quite so arbitrary as in language
or chemistry. The painting of a wave certainly looks more like a wave
than the word “water,” or the symbol H2O. The sign has a certain
resemblance to the original which gives a reason for the existence of
realism and also adds to the confusion of those who would spin a
theory of art; but the resemblance should not mislead us. The sign is
still a sign, though in the one case it is representative and in the
other case symbolic. Its meaning has not changed in any way. The
all-seeing eye of Osiris is not like those speaking eyes in Van Dyck’s
portrait of “Cornelius Van der Geest” (Plate 3). One is more
conventional than the other, but both are conventions.
It is not necessary that we should deny value to this realistic art,
even though we do not wholly accept it. The very endeavor to make
the work faithful to the original in every detail, though it may hurt its
deeper sentiment, cannot but result in good workmanship; and that
in itself is always acceptable and pleasurable. Indeed, bald realism,
with nothing else back of it, is seldom seen in art. The man, the
material, and the method are inextricably mixed together, so that the
product always has more or less individuality about it, or is
decorative in form or color, or expresses some thought or feeling of
the painter, or stands for something in subject. In any event the well-
made sign—even as a sign—is not to be scorned. We shall see
hereafter how it is distorted by the personal element, how it is twisted
by the imagination, how it is warped by the decorative instinct; but
we are not to forget at any time that it is but a symbol, merely a
means of suggesting reality, and not reality itself.
CHAPTER II

INDIVIDUALITY OR THE PERSONAL ELEMENT

The fact that “the report about nature” which we have called “truth”
varies with the reporter is of vital importance to us in comprehending
the measure of exactness in the result. It is something that must be
reckoned with in every thought, deed, and utterance, for its presence
is potent in all human endeavor. Two astronomers, to use the
accepted illustration, taking the time of the passage of a series of
stars over the same meridian, will not precisely agree in their
arithmetical results. However accurate, unbiassed, and mechanical
in action they may seek to be, it happens that one takes the time
earlier or later than the other. Consequently there is always a
variation in the product, which has to be rectified by adding a
constant. This is what is called the personal equation—a something
we have heard about in literature and art as well as in science.
Perhaps you may remember that in the writing class of our youth
when the motto, “Evil communications corrupt good manners,” was
given us as an example to copy, we all wrote the motto, and we all
tried to follow the exact form of the copper-plate pattern before us;
but somehow our performances differed one from another. In some
the letters were large, in others they were small; the angle was
flatter, the line was firmer, or the shading heavier. We used to think it
merely a matter of practice, and fancied if we kept at it long enough
we could ultimately write exactly like the copper-plate pattern. But I
wonder if we thought quite correctly about that. Certainly there are
thousands of people who have been writing all their lives and have
had practice enough, but these are the ones that show the most
marked variations from the model. Each one writes in a manner
peculiarly his own. And these handwritings that vary so radically
interest us very much. We see all sorts of striking peculiarities in
them suggestive of their authors, and we even have so-called
scientists who read character out of them, or into them, I will not say
which. The cause of the variation is not far to seek. It is the personal
element appearing in the work and influencing it. If we would get the
same result in all handwritings we must eliminate the personal
element or, if you please, reckon with the personal equation.
This quality which creates the variance in handwriting is met with
even more positively in painting. For painting is, after all, only an
elaborated picture-writing, more flexible, perhaps, than letter-writing,
and, therefore, more easily bent by a personality; but in the main
influenced by the same principles as regards the variation of the
characters. We all write the letter “A” and they are all “A’s,” but each
is different from the other, just as all landscape painters paint hills
and trees and they are all hills and trees, yet each is different again.
If three painters, say Turner, Rousseau, and Claude Monet, could be
brought together and induced, each for himself, to paint a given tree,
there can be no doubt that all three of the paintings would represent
the tree and be true enough representations into the bargain; but
they would not be at all like one another. The Turner would
undoubtedly give the height, the branching outline, the grace and
grandeur of the tree; but in flattened form, perhaps in silhouette
against a yellow evening sky. In any event and under any
circumstances we may be sure that it would be a Turnerian tree. And
the Rousseau would be correspondingly true to Rousseau’s peculiar
point of view. It would probably have an emphasis of mass and
volume; it would be as deep through as broad across, it would be
firm in its rooting, massive in its trunk and branches, heavy in its
foliage, rich in its coloring. But Claude Monet, painting the same tree,
would not see the things that appealed to Turner and Rousseau, or if
he did he would disregard them. He would overlook form and line
and body, perhaps lose them entirely in studying the sunlight falling
upon the foliage, in painting the colored reflections cast by sky and
ground and water, in surrounding the tree with colored air and giving
it a setting in an atmospheric envelope. Undoubtedly we should be
able to recognize the original tree in any one of the three counterfeit
presentments. Each would differ from the other and yet no one of
them be false. There would be three different truths about the one
tree—three different phases of the one fact. And undoubtedly we
should be able to say just which painter painted each picture. How?
Because we should recognize in each the point of view peculiar to its
maker—we should recognize the individuality of the painter.
If we consider this same tree as part of a landscape—consider it in
connection with foreground, background, and sky—we shall see that
the chance for the display of individuality is even greater. The choice
of the painter as to how the tree shall be seen determines at the very
start the character of the representation. If it is placed in the
foreground and spreads in a pattern of branches and leaves high up
against the sky, we have one phase of tree-truth, one kind of picture
which may perhaps resemble, in a way, the work of Harpignies, if it is
placed in the middle distance, a shadowy form against a pale
morning sky, with a feeling of heavy air and rising mists, we have
another phase of truth, something which may represent Corot; if it is
seen in the far background against a yellow twilight sky, tall, dark,
motionless, we have still another phase of truth which may stand for
Daubigny. Any change in the position of the tree, any change in
foreground or sky-line, in light or reflection or atmosphere, would
represent a new angle of vision and hence a new truth. And the
preference of the painter for any particular phase of the
manifestation, any particular truth, would exhibit what we have called
his individuality.[2]
2. This matter of personality and choice is well illustrated by Mr. La Farge in his
“Considerations on Painting.” He says (p. 71): “I remember myself, years
ago, sketching with two well-known men, artists who were great friends,
great cronies, asking each other all the time how to do this and how to do
that! but absolutely different in the texture of their minds and in the result that
they wished to obtain, so far as the pictures and drawings by which they
were well known to the public are concerned.
“What we made, or rather, I should say, what we wished to note, was
merely a memorandum of the passing effect upon the hills that lay before us.
We had no idea of expressing ourselves or of studying in any way the
subject for any future use. We merely had the intention to note this affair
rapidly, and we had all used the same words to express to each other what
we liked in it. There were big clouds rolling over hills, sky clearing above,
dots of trees and water and meadow land below; and the ground fell away
suddenly before us. Well, our three sketches were in the first place different
in shape; either from our physical differences, or from a habit of drawing
certain shapes of a picture, which itself usually indicates—as you know or
ought to know—whether we are looking far or near. Two were oblong, but of
different proportions; one was more nearly a square: the distance taken into
the right and left was smaller in the latter case, and, on the contrary, the
height up and down—that is to say, the portion of land beneath and the
portion of sky above—was greater. In each picture the distance bore a
different relation to the foreground. In each picture the clouds were treated
with different precision and different attention. In one picture the open sky
was the main intention of the picture. In two pictures the upper sky was of no
consequence—it was the clouds and the mountains that were insisted upon.
The drawing was the same—that is to say, the general make of things—but
each man had involuntarily looked upon what was most interesting to him in
the whole sight; and though the whole sight was what he meant to represent,
he had unconsciously preferred a beauty or interest different from what his
neighbors liked.
“The color of each painting was different—the vivacity of colors and tone,
the distinctness of each part in relation to the whole; and each picture would
have been recognized anywhere as a specimen of work by each one of us,
characteristic of our names. And we spent on the whole affair perhaps twenty
minutes. I wish you to understand again that we each thought and felt as
though we had been photographing the matter before us. We had not the
first desire of expressing ourselves, and I think would have been very much
worried had we not felt that each one was true to nature. Of course there is
no absolute nature, as with each slight shifting of the eye, involuntarily we
focus more or less distinctly some part to the prejudice of others. And not
only would this result have been the same if we had gone on painting, but
had we made a drawing, had we made a careful representation or rapid note
of what we saw by lines (that is to say, by an abstraction of the edges of the
surfaces that we saw), anyone could have told the names of the men who
had done it.”
This preference for a peculiar point of view crops out very early in
the painter’s life. The students in an art class, drawing from the living
model on the platform, and each one striving to follow that model
literally, all show it. The sketches indicate by the placing of the figure
upon the paper, the size of the figure, the height or depth of the
shadows, the clearness or vagueness of the outline, that the
personal element—individuality—is present, influencing and
practically dominating the work of everyone in the class-room. And
this, too, in charcoal work, where the color problem is eliminated.
Moreover, there are features of these charcoal sketches, aside from
mere technique, that are equally interesting as indicative of the
peculiar temperament behind the pencil. You cannot fail to be struck
with the mood or spirit that creeps into each one of the drawings. On
one paper the model looks pleasant, almost jovial, on another he will
appear sad-faced or morose, on another, romantic as you might
conceive a Wagner hero, or classic and insipid like a Canova marble,
and on still another, gross, brutal, or perhaps foolish-looking. It is not
possible that the model could exhibit all these different moods. The
variation is not in him. He presents the same stolid, tired front
common to all models; the mood is added to him by the personality
holding the charcoal.
VII.—BELLINI, Madonna and Saints. S. M. dei Frari, Venice.

We see the same variation among the works of older people—full-


fledged artists, in the world of art. Nowhere is it more apparent than
in the portrait, the one thing which might be thought to call for the
elimination of the painter and a close fidelity to the facts of the
original. But such is the power of preference that the painter almost
invariably emphasizes certain features at the expense of others less
interesting to him; or such is the warp of the vision that certain
qualities appear abnormal, certain prominences appear unduly
accentuated. There are portraits of the Duchess of Devonshire and
of Mrs. Siddons (Plate 19) by both Reynolds and Gainsborough, but
how very different they are! With Reynolds both of the characters are
healthy, robust, good-natured, somewhat loud and stormy; with
Gainsborough they are both delicate, subdued, refined, even
melancholy. And think of the portraits in the Louvre of Francis I. by
different hands, where only a slight thread of resemblance holds
them together; or, better still, the portraits of Napoleon I., painted by
the classic painters of his reign who believed in the utter effacement
of the artist in favor of the facts before him. How very different in
form, feature, mood, and character Napoleon appears in each
picture. He is classic; he is romantic; he is thin, fat, amiable, moody,
fiery, dreamy. David, Delaroche, Gros, no matter what their theories
in art, could not keep themselves out of the representation. All that
any one of them could do was to give his individual impression of the
model before him. Necessarily each was tinctured by a predilection
or a bias. It could not have been otherwise.
What is the cause of the variation in results to be seen in the
portrait? Why, for instance, do the photographs of Queen Victoria
show substantially the same thing, while the portraits of her by
painters show different things? Because the cameras are all made of
practically the same material, have the same sensitiveness, and
receive light in the same way; whereas men are not made of the
same material, have not the same sensitiveness, and receive
varying degrees of light according to their lucidity or absorbent
power, which is sometimes called genius. No two people are
fashioned precisely after the same pattern. They vary in intellectual,
emotional, and physical make-up. And let a painter strive as he may
to record an exact fact before him, he cannot escape the action of
his inherent faculties. These may be brighter, clearer, keener, than
those of other painters, or they may be duller and feebler; but at
least they are different, and he must use what nature has given him.
He was equipped originally to see with his own eyes, think with his
own brain, and work with his own hands. Is it not very apparent then
that the eye may warp the vision and report peculiarly to the brain,
which in turn may tell the hand to work thus and so? And the result in
art is what? Why, the individual view of one man; or nature passed
through the alembic of that man’s personality.[3]
3. “Our eyes, our ears, our sense of smell, of taste, differing from one person to
another, create as many truths as there are men upon earth. And our minds,
taking instructions from these organs, so diversely impressed, understand,
analyse, judge, as if each of us belonged to a different race. Each one of us,
therefore, forms for himself an illusion of the world; and the writer (the
painter, too) has no other mission than to reproduce faithfully this illusion,

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