Page 19 - DMGT505_MANAGEMENT_INFORMATION_SYSTEM

Management Information Systems

Notes Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
9. The two groups of employees primarily concerned with KWS are the data workers who
process and distribute information and the ................................ who create knowledge and
information. There are several ways to distinguish these two groups.
10. Documents not in use are stored on-line on an optical disk system called a .................................
11. The office, as we know it in the traditional sense, is the setting for the generation and
processing of .................................

1.5 Contemporary Approach to Information Systems

There are several different approaches to Information Systems: technical, behavioral, socio-
technical. Think of this analogy: A “techie” looks at most things associated with computing as a
series of zeroes or ones. After all, everything in a computer is ultimately reduced to a zero or a
one. So using the technical approach, you could say that 2 + 2 = 4. The behavioral approach, on
the other hand, takes into account the very nature of human beings. Nothing is totally black and
white. Therefore, the behavioral approach to the same equation would be “2 + 2 = maybe 4 or
perhaps 3.5 to 5.5, but we’ll have to put it before the committee and see what the next quarter’s
figures say.” Neither approach is better than the other, depending on the situation. Neither
approach is more right than the other, depending on the situation.

An organization can’t afford to view its information resources as belonging to either the techies
(technical approach) or the non-techies (behavioral approach). Responsibility for information
belongs to everyone in the organization. This is the socio-technical approach, that is, a
combination of the two. Everyone has to work together to ensure that Information Systems
serve the entire organization.
To help you understand the importance of viewing Information Systems through the socio-
technical approach, look at what the current trade journals are saying. David Haskin, writing in
the April 1999 issue of Windows Magazine, quotes Steve Roberts, vice president of information
technology for Mind Spring Enterprises, an Atlanta-based Internet service provider: “The gap in
understanding between technical and non technical people is the biggest challenge I’ve seen.”
Haskin goes on to say, “Because technology is the bedrock on which successful businesses are
built, the stakes in making this relationship work are high. Failing to use the correct technology
can put you at a competitive disadvantage, and glitches in existing technologies can bring a
business to a grinding halt.”
Information Systems and the use of technology belong to everyone in an organization. This
concept is best carried out through a socio-technical approach, which allows both the technical
and behavioral approaches to be combined for the good of the organization.
Information systems are socio-technical systems. Through they are composed of machines,
devices, and “hard’ physical technology, they require substantial social, organizational, and
intellectual investments to make them work property.

The study of information systems deals with issues and insights contributed from technological
and behavioral disciplines.

Task In your word what is the meaning of knowledge work systems.

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