Information Systems Management

Introduction

This report aims to understand the important principles related to Information Systems (IS) within the concept of a business and how it can be implemented within a business. In the given case involving a restaurant business run by Kylie's parents which will be undergoing an upgrade of its operations in its Information management through the use of IS as Kylie feels that better information management through digitization and IS can help to improve the performance of the restaurant and facilitate better management of information and data (Pearlson et al., 2019; Wiesche et al., 2017).

Discussion

-Four information technology components

Within the given context of the restaurant four important components of IS, which are integrally related to each other and influences the overall management of information and  that are most relevant for the business are given as under:

• Technology: this is a part of the technical system which includes the standards, components, hardware, software, and other devices that are involved in the management of information and data within the company (Kavanagh & Johnson, 2017). This interacts with the other three components of the IS in a bi-directional manner (Cassidy, 2016).
• Process: Process is the second component of the technical system which relates to technology, people and structure and involves the standard procedures and protocols in the management of a system that needs to be followed by the people and through the usage of technology (Pearlson et al., 2019).
• People: the people fall into an important category of social system within an information system where the technologies and processes of information management are focused on better usage by the users and also involve an influence on the structure or framework of how the information is being managed (Hair et al. 2017).
• Structure: Structure is a part of the social system that influences the technologies and processes of information management and also focuses on the people or users using the developed structure through a user centrality. The structure, therefore, outlines how the information flows within a given model (Wiesche et al., 2017).

 

Fig 1: Four information technology components. Source: Wiesche et al., 2017

-How these components are brought together in the organization

Within an organization, the implementation the four components of an information system can be made at four different levels namely, at the level of the workers, at the level of middle management, at the level of senior management and at the executive level (Cassidy, 2016). At the worker level, a transaction processing system can be involved that involves the necessary technologies like point of sales services or EFTPOS to automate and centralize these transactions for the restaurant and standardize the process and structure of handling payments from customers which the accounts team(people) can use (Hair et al. 2017). At the level of middle managers, management information systems (MIS) can be used through a database or even excel sheets thereby providing the necessary technology and process for managing information (Liu et al. 2017). At the level of senior managers, a decision support system can be incorporated by applying a knowledge base on the restaurant business that can help the managers decide on procurement and operational practices (Process) (Kavanagh & Johnson, 2017). At the executive level, ( which Kyeli can follow) executive information systems that collect and collates the data from all the other three levels (Technology and process) can help her to make strategic decisions based on a standard framework to guide her(Structure) (Wiesche et al., 2017). This can be seen from the pyramid diagram below:

 

Fig 2:   IS components brought together in the organization. Source: Kavanagh & Johnson, 2017

-Different types of computer-based information systems that function between business and other organizations

Within the context of the restaurant run by Kylie different types of computer-based information, systems can be utilized which can help her to better manage the information or data generated in the business (Kavanagh & Johnson, 2017). These are outlined as under:

• Transaction processing systems: this system involves how the business transactions are processed in a computerized manner that can capture, classify, store, maintain, update as well as retrieve the data related to transactions in an automated manner and also helps in the placement of orders, customer billing and managing inventory (Pearlson et al., 2019).
• Management information system: this system helps to quickly process a large volume of data through automation of manual data management processes and can include various types of data like employee records, inventory, orders, payments and performance scores (Abbasi et al. 2016).
• Decision support systems: These systems perform heuristic analysis that supports the process of decision making in the management by providing actionable data and knowledge generated through the day to day data and information generated by the business (Kavanagh & Johnson, 2017; Hair et al. 2017).
• Office automation system: Computerized systems can also be used to automate office processes such as printing, revising, storing, typing or entering data into the database or other data management system (Cassidy, 2016).

 

Fig 3: Different types of computer-based information systems. Source: Kavanagh & Johnson, 2017

-The first three systems that should be prioritized to give the restaurant good foundations for successful growth and expansion

Three of the systems which can be the most useful for the restaurant includes the following:

• Priority 1- Transaction processing systems: Using technologies such as POS the business would be able to automate the process of accepting payments including debit or credit card payments in an easy manner wherein transaction records would be automatically created at each transaction without the need of maintaining a paper-based record (Wiesche et al., 2017).
• Priority 2- Decision Support systems: This system can be useful for Kyeli to make strategic decisions related to the management of the restaurant and overcome her lack of experience by supporting her decisions with actionable data thereby improving its efficacy (Pearlson et al., 2019).
• Priority 3- Management information systems: This system can help to manage information such as inventory orders as well as the performance of the restaurant which would help to overcome the challenges related to manual data handling and also reduce the workload on the employees for the process (Cassidy, 2016; Hair et al. 2017).

Conclusion

From the above report it can be suggested that through the incorporation of a proper information management system, Kylie can greatly improve the performance of her parents' restaurant helping her to overcome the key challenges related to the management of data and information for the company. Involving the components of IT, process, people and structure, the integration of IS can be done at the levels of workers, middle managers, senior managers, and executives.

References:

Abbasi, A., Sarker, S., & Chiang, R. H. (2016). Big data research in information systems: Toward an inclusive research agenda. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 17(2), 3.

Cassidy, A. (2016). A practical guide to information systems strategic planning. CRC press.

Hair, J., Hollingsworth, C. L., Randolph, A. B., & Chong, A. Y. L. (2017). An updated and expanded assessment of PLS-SEM in information systems research. Industrial Management & Data Systems.

Kavanagh, M. J., & Johnson, R. D. (Eds.). (2017). Human resource information systems: Basics, applications, and future directions. Sage Publications.

Liu, D., Santhanam, R., & Webster, J. (2017). Toward Meaningful Engagement: A Framework for Design and Research of Gamified Information Systems. MIS Quarterly, 41(4).

Pearlson, K. E., Saunders, C. S., & Galletta, D. F. (2019). Managing and using information systems: A strategic approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Wiesche, M., Jurisch, M. C., Yetton, P. W., & Krcmar, H. (2017). Grounded theory methodology in information systems research. MIS Quarterly, 41(3), 685-701.