Information systems are not a brand new concept that came with the recent technological boost during the Twenty First century. The idea of systems is that every successful system has the same qualities no matter what the systems are or how they are . Ludwig von Bertalanffy is a biologist who first proposed the General Systems Theory. He stated, “real systems are open to, and interact with, their environments…resulting in continual evolution. Rather than reducing an entity (e.g. the human body) to the properties of its parts or elements (e.g. organs or cells), systems theory focuses on the arrangement of and relations between the parts which connect them into a whole (cf. holism)”[i] This definition explains that everything has its place and for all to be fully functional they work in unison. This creates wholeness and allows the system to adapt and change resulting in success. Systems Theory is a guideline of how, if looked at closely, you can see that everything is a system and generally has the same characteristics.
In business, there are many different types of systems. You have your information systems, you have management systems, and when all these systems run as a cohesive unit you get a successful business. This can allow you to obtain a strategic advantage over your competitors creating value to your systems and company. In Michael porters “Potters Strategic theory”, competitive advantage can be obtained by effectively implementing Information Systems and Technology. [ii] He also states,” The primary, value-adding activities include those involved in the production, marketing delivery, and servicing of the product. They are linked, generally in a chain. Support activities include those providing purchased inputs, technology, human resources, or overall infrastructure functions to support the primary activities[iii] The adaptation and change described by Bertanlanffy is implemented by Porter allowing businesses to adapt and evolve.
One of the requirements for Porters value chain is an investment in information system technologies. This shows that with out the right information systems you can never fully gain a competitive advantage over your competition. Information can be turned valuable by doing the following applications,”…Assess existing and potential information intensity of product and process, Evaluate the likely impact of IT on their industry structure Identify the rank of activities that information first affects, quantify how information technology brings new business and generate a plan of action for taking advantage of IT”[iv] Porter concludes that by implementing sound information systems you can add value to your company. In adding value to your systems, you add a competitive advantage.
The competitive nature of our economy, especially in these hard times, makes information systems that more important. When new technology comes out it is essential that a business plan is used to invest and obtain all this information because if you do not you will be left behind. This shows that General Tnformation Theory can be applied to any type of situation, as it was the basis of Michaels Porters, Strategic IS Theory. We can now say we can judge the value of information and technology by seeing how efficiently our systems we have in place are running.
No comments:
Post a Comment