Information Systems
This textbook explores the fundamental concepts of information systems, demonstrating their structure, purpose, and importance in the modern business landscape, offering expert guidance on the topic, and giving real-world context to tie in with specific learning objectives.
Defining Information Systems
Almost all programs in business require students to take a course in something called information systems. But what exactly does that term mean? Let's take a look at some of the more popular definitions, first from Wikipedia and then from a couple of textbooks:
- "Information systems (IS) is the study of complementary networks of hardware and software that people and organizations use to collect, filter, process, create, and distribute data".
- "Information systems are combinations of hardware, software, and telecommunications networks that people build and use to collect, create, and distribute useful data, typically in organizational settings".
- "Information systems are interrelated components working together to collect, process, store, and disseminate information to support decision making, coordination, control, analysis, and viualization in an organization".
As you can see, these definitions focus on two different ways of describing information systems: the components that make up an information system and the role that those components play in an organization. Let's take a look at each of these.