IS1060

INTRODUCTION TO
INFORMATION
SYSTEMS

Lecturer

UMAIR CHEEMA
Information is knowledge about the world that
is sought by people in order to satisfy their
psychological needs and on the basis of which
they can take action or make decisions.
Subject Guide
Information is data processed for a purpose.

Curtis
Information is data shaped into meaningful
form.
Laudon
‘Information is a paradoxical resource: you
can’t eat it, you can’t live in it, you can’t travel
about in it, but a lot of people want it’(Stamper,
2001).
Beynon-
Davies
1. How similar are these
definitions?
2. Which in your opinion is the
most accurate?
3. Are you able to define your
own?
DIKW Pyramid

d i k u w

e
Question 1
a) Explain the concept of ‘Information’ as it
is used in information systems.
What makes information resources desirable
or necessary for
organisations?
b) How does information travel
through an organisation and its
information
systems and grow in use and value?
Can there ever be too much
information?
We advise that each answer starts with a
short introduction, indicating the sequence
of the main ideas in the answer. The
answer to each question must not exceed
1,000 words. Anything beyond 1,000 words
will not be read.
 Show you can think
 Show you have read widely
 Show evidence of your
knowledge, analysis, critical
skills and understanding
 Introduction
The reasons for your answers (A, B,
C, D) become the main ideas for the
paragraphs you write in the essay.
Introduction  Why is the question important?
 What is your answer? (e.g. Yes? No?
Depends on?)
 Why do you think this?
 A.
 B.
 C.
 D.
Paragraph A
What is your main idea?
Give references and explain the reason
why:
Reason and evidence 1
Reason and evidence 2
Reason and evidence 3
How will you link to the next paragraph?
Conclusion

Summarise your answer

Closing statement (this might be
about the significance of your
answer or what will happen next)
Making an argument
Paragraph 1 I Introduction, context,
answer in this example ‘yes’) + argument

Reasons given by people

who think ‘No’

Reasons you don’t agree with

the people who think ‘No!’
Making an argument
Paragraph 4 I Reasons for saying ‘Yes!’

More reasons for saying

‘Yes!’

Example showing why ‘Yes!’ is

a good answer
Making an argument

Paragraph 7 I Conclusion: Although it

can be argued ‘no’, there are a number of
reasons for ‘Yes!’ These include…
Appropriate terminology and
formal vocabulary
At first sight this question might
suggest answers that describe
information as
processed data, something we
create because we think it useful.
This might go along with a string of
characteristics for ‘good’
information such as being timely,
reliable, valid and so on.
Develop an answer that
emphasises how
information is ‘seen’ in
information systems
discussions.
Information’s roles in
facilitating good decision-
making (algorithmic or as
DSS), as means to tie the
organisation together
(coordination)
To allow it to understand its
operating
environment, to empower
individuals and teams to act,
and as a way to monitor and
to exercise control.
We might see information as
necessary for various distinct
reasons such as for
optimisation, prediction,
coordination and control.
A good answer

Might frame all this as a systems module

where data is gathered from the
environment, stored and processed, and
purposively used to act in and influence
that environment.
Value traditionally comes in
two forms, goods and services.
Value network
 The internal value chain consisting of
a series of activity systems by which the
organisation creates value.
 The supply chain consisting of those
activity systems by which an organisation
obtains goods and services from other
organisations.
 The customer chain consisting of those
activity systems by which an organisation
delivers value to its customers.
Value network
 The community chain consisting of
those social networks surrounding the
business that support value generation
between individuals and groups.
 The partner chain consisting of those
activity systems that support coordinated or
collaborative value creation by two or more
organisations to the same set of customers.
 reliable and accurate
I N FO R MAT I O accessible
up-to-date or timely
N
conveniently presented
HAS at an appropriate level of detail

VALU E
 reduces our uncertainty
I N FO R MAT I O
exclusive
N evokes a direct response

HAS enables some other valued task

VALU E
"If the first thinking process should lead us to
answer the question 'what to change?' the
second thinking process should lead us to
answer the question 'what to change to?'
and the need for a third thinking process
'how to cause the change.’
Goldratt, The Goal
(2009)
Don’t cut corners, methodologically. In the
long run, this results in system failure or an
inadequate system that doesn’t meet
the users’ needs.

Dr. Paul Dorsey

 SO CI OTECHNI CAL

a combination of concern and consideration

for people (what they do and what they want)
and concern for the technologies.

Laudon, K.C. and J.P.

Laudon
“an application makes assumptions about the
environment & we should not expect the
application to work in environments for
which its assumptions are not valid”

Goldratt, The Goal

(2009)
PRECO C E PT I O
N N
C O S T O F I N F O R MAT I O N
S YS T E M S

We need to use various types of resources,

including people and technology, to produce,
manage and distribute information.
There is no free lunch in software
engineering. If you insist on keeping costs
low and hurrying the project along, then
quality will be low or the risk of failure will
be high no matter how well the project is
Dr. Paul Dorsey
managed.
There are three factors that all successful
projects seem to have in common.

Top management support

A sound methodology
Solid technical leadership by someone who has
successfully completed a similar project
Dr. Paul Dorsey
Streams of raw facts representing
events occurring in organisations or
the physical environment

before they have been organised and

arranged into a form that people
can
Laudon and Laudon (2018)
understand and use.’
So what do these two examples have in
common? The answer lies in differences.

Data are differences made in a substance

by an actor that makes a difference, in
the

sense of informing an actor of

something of significance.
Beynon-Davies, P. (2020)
QUESTIONS!
Digital transformations are continuously
changing how people live, work and function in
their societies. These applications of
technology can be noticed in education,
transportation, data storage, communications
and healthcare, among other fields.
Artificial intelligence and digital
transformation
UNESCO Publication