Page 53 -

Chapter 1 The Importance of MIS
52
Questions something else? How is Alibaba.com similar to or different from
these companies?
1. Take a few minutes to browse Alibaba.com and look at some 4. What are some of the challenges associated with operating an
examples of products for sale on the site. What are some of the international business not discussed in this feature?
logistical differences between buying something 5. Think about your own purchasing habits and the buying
on Alibaba.com and buying something on Amazon.com? habits of your friends/coworkers. Can you identify a product
2. How has reading this article changed your perception of the people need that is available on Alibaba.com? Is there a
difficulty associated with starting a new business? different Web site on which you could purchase this product
3. Think about companies that currently have high stock prices. for wholesale prices and sell it to customers for a profit?
Do these companies sell a product or service, or do they offer

High-Tech Versus Low-Tech Information Systems

Information systems differ in the amount of work moved from the human side (people and proce-
dures) to the computer side (hardware and programs). For example, consider two different versions
of a customer support information system: A system that consists only of a file of email addresses
and an email program is a very low-tech system. Only a small amount of work has been moved
from the human side to the computer side. Considerable human work is required to determine
when to send which emails to which customers.
In contrast, a customer support system that keeps track of the equipment that customers
have and the maintenance schedules for that equipment and then automatically generates email
reminders to customers is a higher-tech system. This simply means that more work has been moved
from the human side to the computer side. The computer is providing more services on behalf of
the humans.
Often, when considering different information systems alternatives, it will be helpful to
consider the low-tech versus high-tech alternatives in light of the amount of work being moved
from people to computers.

The Ethics Guide in each chapter Understanding the Scope of New Information Systems
of this book considers the ethics
of information systems use. These The five-component framework can also be used when assessing the scope of new systems. When
guides challenge you to think in the future some vendor pitches the need for a new technology to you, use the five components
deeply about ethical standards, and to assess how big of an investment that new technology represents. What new hardware will you
they provide for some interesting need? What programs will you need to license? What databases and other data must you create?
discussions with classmates. The What procedures will need to be developed for both use and administration of the information
Ethics Guide on pages 56–57
considers the ethics of presenting system? And, finally, what will be the impact of the new technology on people? Which jobs will
data that deceives the viewer. change? Who will need training? How will the new technology affect morale? Will you need to hire
new people? Will you need to reorganize?

Components Ordered by Difficulty and Disruption

Finally, as you consider the five components, keep in mind that Figure 1-8 shows them in order of
ease of change and the amount of organizational disruption. It is a simple matter to order additional
hardware. Obtaining or developing new programs is more difficult. Creating new databases or
changing the structure of existing databases is still more difficult. Changing procedures, requiring
people to work in new ways, is even more difficult. Finally, changing personnel responsibilities
and reporting relationships and hiring and terminating employees are all very difficult and very
disruptive to the organization.