THE ROLES AND GOALS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

CHAPTER 1

THE INFORMATION AGE IN WHICH YOU LIVE

Changing the Face of Business

THE CHAPTER IN SHORT FORM

This chapter introduces your students to the use of information technology (IT) and management information systems (MIS) within todays fast-paced, dynamic, and global business environment.

After a few definitions of such key terms as knowledge workers and MIS, the chapter then launches into a discussion of todays economic environment, including such topics as:

The e.conomy (key terms - electronic commerce, telecommuting, and the virtual workplace)

The now economy (key term - m-commerce)

The global economy (key terms - global economy and transnational firm)

The arriving digital economy (key term digital economy)

The next three sections provide an introduction to the three most important resources within MIS including:

1. Information

2. People

3. Information technology

Those three sections include such key terms as ethics, hackers, decentralized computing, intranets, shared information, and information granularity.

In the final section, we introduce your students to the 6 roles and goals of information technology. They include:

1. Increase employee productivity

2. Enhance decision making

3. Improve team collaboration

4. Create business partnerships and alliances

5. Enable global reach

6. Facilitate organizational transformation

STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Describe the information age and the role of knowledge workers within it.

2. Define management information systems (MIS).

3. Describe key factors shaping todays economic environment.

4. Validate information as a key resource and describe both personal and organizational dimensions of information.

5. Define how people are the most important organizational resource, their information and technology literacy challenges, and their ethical responsibilities.

6. Describe the important characteristics of information technology (IT) as a key organizational resource.

7. List and describe the six roles and goals of information technology in any organization.

LECTURE OUTLINE

INTRODUCTION (p. 4)

TODAYS ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT (p. 5)

1. The E.conomy

2. The Now Economy

3. The Global Economy

4. The Arriving Digital Economy

INFORMATION AS A KEY RESOURCE (p. 9)

1. Data Versus Information

2. Personal Dimensions of Information

3. Organizational Dimensions of Information

PEOPLE AS A KEY RESOURCE (p. 13)

1. Information and Technology Literacy

2. Your Ethical Responsibilities

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS A KEY RESOURCE (p. 17)

1. Key Technology Categories

2. Decentralized Computing and Shared Information

ROLES AND GOALS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (p. 21)

1. Increase Employee Productivity

2. Enhance Decision Making

3. Improve Team Collaboration

4. Create Business Partnerships and Alliances

5. Enable Global Reach

6. Facilitate Organizational Transformation

END OF CHAPTER (p. 29)

1. Summary: Student Learning Outcomes Revisited

2. Closing Case Study One

3. Closing Case Study Two

4. Key Terms and Concepts

5. Short-Answer Questions

6. Short-Question Answers

7. Assignments and Exercises

8. Discussion Questions

9. Real HOT Electronic Commerce

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTSTEXT PAGE

Application software19

Artificial intelligence (AI)24

Banner ad26

Central processing unit (CPU)19

Collaboration system24

Culture27

Customer-integrated system (CIS)22

Data9

Decentralized computing20

Digital economy8

Electronic commerce5

Electronic data interchange (EDI)26

Ethics15

Executive information system (EIS)23

External information13

Global economy8

Group document database24

Groupware24

Hacker17

Hardware17

Information9

Information age4

Information granularity12

Information-literate knowledge worker14

Information technology (IT)17

Input device17

Internal information13

Interorganizational system (IOS)25

Intranet10

Knowledge worker4

Management information systems (MIS)4

M-commerce7

Neural network24

Objective information13

Online analytical processing (OLAP)23

Online transaction processing (OLTP)22

Operating system software19

Operational management12

Output device18

RAM (random access memory)19

Shared information20

Software17

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTSTEXT PAGE

Storage device18

Strategic management11

Subjective information13

System software19

Tactical management12

Technology-literate knowledge worker14

Telecommunications device19

Telecommuting6

Transaction processing system (TPS)22

Transnational firm8

Utility software19

Virtual workplace6

OPENING CASE STUDY (p. 3)

Information Technology at Ritz-Carlton Hotels Helps Staff Deliver Excellent Service QualityThe opening case study is a powerful one to show the potential of information technology.

It discusses hot information technology was used by Ritz-Carlton to enhance customer service and increase retention rate.

Key Points:

Technology is a very powerful tool.

Technology can be successfully applied within a firm and between firms and clients.

SUPPORT

Extended Learning Modules

XLM/C if your students have little previous exposure to technology, cover this module which introduces a variety of technology hardware and software terms.

Real HOT Group Projects (CD-ROM)1: Assessing the Value of Information use spreadsheet software to redefine an auto mechanics shop.

A: Assessing the Value of Information use spreadsheet software to determine where to sell homes.

Web Support (www.mcgrawhill.ca/college/haag)

Job databases

Searching newspapers for job ads

Locating internships

Interviewing and negotiating tips

Organization sites and job postings

Employment opportunities with the government

INTRODUCTION

It truly is the information age a time when knowledge is power.

Key Points:

Knowledge workers dominate the information age by more than a four-to-one margin.

All business students are preparing to be knowledge workers.

What businesses dont know can put them out of business (in a very big hurry).

In the information age, MIS is key because it deals with the coordinated use of three very important organizational resources information, information technology, and people.

Key Term: Information age - a time when knowledge is power.

Key Term: Knowledge worker - works with and produces information as a product.

Key Term: Management information systems (MIS) - deals with the planning for, development, management, and use of information technology tools to help people perform all tasks related to information processing and management.

Concept Reinforcement: Adding Value Class Participation

Ask your students to discuss how you, as a teacher, are a knowledge worker.

You create exams and assignments (these are information-based products).

Most importantly, you are a vehicle of knowledge through which your students learn. Learning is an information-based activity.

TODAYS ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

To be successful today, your students must understand the dynamics of the business environment in which they work.

In this section, we discuss the dynamic and changing business environment.

The E.conomy (p. 5-6)

Key Points:

We are certainly moving into an electronic economy.

Dont dwell too much on the past here many of your students have probably spent the better part of their adulthood on the Internet, chatting with friends, buying products, etc.

The key to electronic commerce is not electronic, but rather the use of sound business principles in an electronic environment (this is the commerce aspect).

Key Term: Electronic commerce - commerce, but it is commerce accelerated and enhanced by information technology, in particular, the Internet. It enables customers, consumers, and companies to form powerful new relationships that would not otherwise be possible without the enabling technologies.

Key Points:

Commerce isnt just about buying and selling goods.

Its about going e in each and every phase of business.

This includes telecommuting and enabling the virtual workplace.

Today, more than 35 million people in the U.S. telecommute and more than 30% of Canadians work at home for more than 20 hours per week.

That number is expected to grow by 20% over the next several years.

Figure 1.1 on page 6 is great for illustrating the growing importance and use of telecommuting.

Key Term: Telecommuting - the use of communications technologies (such as the Internet) to work in a place other than a central location.

Key Term: Virtual workplace - a technology-enabled workplace. No walls. No boundaries. Work anytime, anyplace, linked to other people and information you need, wherever they are.

Concept Reinforcement: Adding Value Class Participation

Take a quick informal survey in your class.

Ask your students the following questions:

1. How many of you use the Web on a daily basis?

2. Do you participate in chat rooms?

3. Do you buy physical products such as books and CDs?

4. Do you buy event tickets for concerts and the like?

5. Do you download software?

6. Has your amount of junk e-mail increased because of your use of the Web?

Based on their answers, show percentages on the board.

The Now Economy (p. 6-7)

Key Points:

People want immediate access to the ordering of products and services.

ATMs allow you access to your money anytime and anywhere.

B2C Web sites allow you to order almost anything at anytime (and usually have it within a couple of days).

Closely related is the concept of a wants-based economy in which people buy based on wants and not necessarily needs.

Technology can certainly facilitate a business achieving a strategic advantage by (1) offering customers the ability to buy anything anytime anywhere (through m-commerce) and (2) providing technologies that allow businesses to monitor and project customer wants-based spending habits.

Key Term: M-commerce - describes electronic commerce conducted over a wireless device such as a cell phone or personal digital assistant.

Concept Reinforcement: Team Work I Want It! (p. 7)

This project requires your students to identify products that are purely wants-based such as elaborate pet treats and tennis shoes with rear lights.

Break your class into groups of 4 to 6 and require this as a homework exercise.

What your students will quickly realize is that a large portion of consumer purchases are wants-based.

Examples include rollerblades (and other types of fun-fitness equipment), Rolex watches, video games, and so on.

The real point of this project is to get your students to think about (1) who would buy these products, (2) why they would buy them, (3) how organizations can identify those consumer segments, and (4) what role technology could play in identifying those consumer segments.

In conjunction with this project, talk about such key concepts as customer relationship management, marketing mixes, and advertising strategies.

The Global Economy (p. 8)

Key Points:

The world of business is certainly global.

There are over 30,000,000 consumers in Canada.

But there are over 6.2 billion worldwide.

Businesses can be successful on a worldwide basis as transnational firms.

Figure 1.2 on shows the total import and export figures for 1998-2000 for Canada..

Key Term: Global economy - one in which customers, businesses, suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers all operate without regard to physical and geographical boundaries.

Key Term: Transnational firm - a firm that produces and sells products and services in countries all over the world.

Concept Reinforcement: Adding Value Class Participation

This is a great time to discuss with your students the need to learn a foreign language.

Your school may or may not have a foreign language requirement.

If it doesnt, encourage your students to take a foreign language as an elective.

You might also want to poll your class to determine how many students can speak more than one language.

The Arriving Digital Economy (p. 8-9)

Key Points:

We are in the information age.

The next age will be the digital age.

In the digital age, we will move all forms of information (including physiological information) digitally.

This will usher in a whole new era of doing business.

Technologies in the digital age will include virtual reality, voice recognition systems (on a wide scale), and 3-D holographic devices, just to name a few.

Key Term: Digital economy - will be one marked by the electronic movement of all types of information, not limited to numbers, words, graphs, and photos but including physiological information such as voice recognition and synthesization, biometrics (your retina scan and breath for example), and 3-D holograms.

Concept Reinforcement: Adding Value Class Participation

Most, if not all, your students will be able to relate to the coming digital economy through the movies.

Take some time and ask your students to identify movies that electronically move physiological information.

Some movies include Star Trek (with the holodeck), Virtuosity (virtual reality), and The Matrix (a wide and wild variety).

INFORMATION AS A KEY RESOURCE

Information is one of the three key components of MIS, along with people and information technology.

We are also in the information age, a time when knowledge is power. So, information is indeed important even outside the context of MIS.

Data Versus Information (p. 9)

Key Points:

Data and information are quite different.

Data are raw facts while information has meaning within a specific context.

Key Term: Data - raw facts that describe a particular phenomenon.

Key Term: Information - simply data that have a particular meaning within a specific context.

Concept Reinforcement: Real HOT Group projects #1 and #A (CD-ROM) Technology can certainly turn data into information.

To help your students understand this, assign either Real HOT Group project #1 or #A. Both deal with using spreadsheet software to analyze information and require your students to differentiate between data and useful information.

For example, project #A requires your students to use spreadsheet software to evaluate 600 real estate transactions to determine where to focus sales efforts.

However, some of the data is just data and not important to the decision at hand, so it isnt information.

Personal Dimensions of Information (p. 9-11)

Key Points:

There are three personal dimensions of information: time, location, and form.

Time encompasses two aspects: (1) having access to information when you need it and (2) having information that describes the time period youre considering.

Location deals with having access to information no matter where you are.

Form encompasses two aspects: (1) having information in a form that is usable and (2) having accurate information (i.e., free of errors).

Figure 1.3 on page 9 illustrates the three personal dimensions of information.

Key Term: Intranet - an internal organizational Internet that is guarded against outside access by a special security feature called a firewall (which can be software, hardware, or a combination of the two).

Concept Reinforcement: Global Perspective Overcoming Language Barriers on the Internet (p. 10)

This Global Perspective broadly addresses the issue of overcoming language barriers on the Internet.

Most importantly, it talks about SYSTRAN Enterprise, a suite of software that performs language translations.

You should definitely take your students to SYSTRANs site (www.systransoft.com). There, you can type in phrases and sentences in one language and have them translated into another language. If you try idiomatic phrases, youll find that the software doesnt work that well.

The point is not that SYSTRANs software isnt any good it is some of the best on the market. The point is that computers have a difficult time translating from one language to another.

Organizational Dimensions of Information (p. 11-13)

Key Points:

Organizations also have dimensions or perspectives of information, including information flows, what information describes, information granularity, and how information is used (the latter is discussed in the next section).

Information flows include upward, downward, horizontally, and outward as Figure 1.4 on page 11 illustrates.

Information granularity refers to the extent of detail within the information (from highly summarized to very detailed).

Information can describe many aspects of a business internal (its operations), external (whats going around the organization), objective (something that is known), and subjective (something that is unknown).

Key Term: Strategic management - provides an organization with overall direction and guidance.

Key Term: Tactical management - develops goals and strategies outlined by strategic management.

Key Term: Operational management - manages and directs the day-to-day operations and implementations of the goals and strategies.

Key Term: Information granularity - refers to the extent of detail within the information.

Key Term: Internal information - describes specific operational aspects of the organization.

Key Term: External information - describes the environment surrounding the organization.

Key Term: Objective information - quantifiably describes something that is known.

Key Term: Subjective information - attempts to describe something that is unknown.

Concept Reinforcement: Industry Perspective Michael Dell Preaches Immediate Information Access (p. 13)

This industry perspective has some great quotes from Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell Computer, concerning the need to have immediate access to information.

Because of immediate access to information, Dell carries only 3 to 4 days of inventory (the standard is about 45 days).

Michael also states that having immediate access to information takes the guess work out of running a business a goal for everyone.

PEOPLE AS A KEY RESOURCE

The single most important resource in any organization is people. Without people, business is nothing.

Information and Technology Literacy (p. 14-15)

Key Points:

Technology is important today because information is important.

Technology is a set of tools for working with information. If we didnt need to work with information, we would have little use for technology.

So, its important to know how to work with technology so you can better work with information.

Key Term: Technology-literate knowledge worker - a person who knows how and when to apply technology.

Concept Reinforcement: Industry Perspective Polaroid Is Polar-People (p. 15)

People are important because they posses intellectual capital.

Because of this, Polaroid has developed an elaborate and sophisticated HR system.

Polaroid uses it to forecast when current employees will retire and what intellectual capital they will take with them.

This enables Polaroid to hire new people far in advance of others retiring.

Key Points:

Technology is, however, not a panacea.

You must still know what information you need and understand its meaning once you get it.

Key Term: Information-literate knowledge workers - can define what information they need, know how and where to obtain that information, understand the information once they receive it, and can act appropriately based on the information to help the organization achieve the greatest advantage.

Your Ethical Responsibilities (p. 15-17)

Key Points:

You simply cant use technology with reckless abandonment.

You must also use it in the best interests of society and those people that your actions will affect.

Key Term: Ethics - the principles and standards that guide our behaviour toward other people.

Key Term: Hacker - a very knowledgeable computer user who uses his or her knowledge to invade other peoples computers.

Concept Reinforcement: On Your Own E-Mail: Electronic Mail or Expensive Mail? (p. 16)

This is a must do project, as it only takes a few minutes to complete but will generate considerable class participation.

The project quickly details why Chevron paid $2 million in an out-of-court settlement because one of its employees distributed an e-mail joke that offended someone.

Accompanying this project, your students are required to answer a couple of questions.

Most importantly, they must decide based on their own view of privacy and ethics whether or not a company has the right to monitor e-mail.

If they decide the company has the right to monitor e-mail, then they must also be willing to let the company monitor paper mail and phone calls.

If they decide the company does not have the right to monitor e-mail, then they must be prepared to receive potentially offensive e-mail and not sue the company.

Youll have a great time leading your class through a debate surrounding this project.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AS A KEY RESOURCE

Because information is so important, so is technology because it gives you the ability to work with information.

Key Technology Categories (p. 17-20)

Key Points:

There are two basic categories of technology: hardware and software.

Hardware is the physical devices while software is the instructions that the hardware executes.

Hardware categories include input devices, output devices, storage devices, CPU and RAM, telecommunications devices, and connecting devices.

Software categories include application and system.

Figure 1.6 on page 18 provides an overview of hardware and software categories.

Key Term: Information technology (IT) - any computer-based tool that people use to work with information and support the information and information-processing needs of an organization.

Key Term: Hardware - the physical devices that make up a computer.

Key Term: Software - the set of instructions that your hardware executes to carry out a specific task for you.

Key Term: Input device - a tool you use to capture information and commands.

Key Term: Output device - a tool you use to see, hear, or otherwise accepts the results of your information-processing requests.

Key Term: Storage device - a tool you use to store information for use at a later time.

Key Term: Central processing unit (CPU) - the actual hardware that interprets and executes the software instructions and coordinates how all the other hardware devices work together.

Key Term: RAM (random access memory) - temporary storage that holds the information youre working with, the application software youre using, and the operating system software youre using.

Key Term: Telecommunications device - a tool you use to send information to and receive it from another person or location.

Key Term: Application software - software that enables you to solve specific problems or perform specific tasks.

Key Term: System software - handles tasks specific to technology management and coordinates the interaction of all technology devices.

Key Term: Operating system software - system software that controls your application software and manages how your hardware devices work together.

Key Term: Utility software - software that provides additional functionality to your operating system.

Concept Reinforcement: Extended Learning Module C Computer Hardware and Software

As you review some basic key technology concepts and categories with your students, you might want to consider covering Extended Learning Module C Computer Hardware and Software.

If your students have had little or no previous exposure to basic technology concepts, module A is a great one to cover.

You can also refer your students to module A for a review of technology if theyve already had a previous computing concepts course.

Concept Reinforcement: On Your Own Identifying Hardware and Software (p. 19)

If your students have had little previous exposure to technology, this is a good project.

In this project, your students will find an ad for a computer system.

Then, they must identify all the various components hardware by category and software by category.

When comparing it to a similar system on the Internet, some of your students will find the local system more expensive while others will find the Internet system more expensive.

Decentralized Computing and Shared Information (p. 20)

Key Points:

To be successful in business, you need two things: (1) technology to work with information and (2) access to the information you need.

Therefore, businesses have adopted decentralized computing which places technology in the hands of those who need it.

Businesses also provide shared information which gives people the ability to access the information they need.

Figure 1.7 on page 20 illustrates the concepts of decentralized computing and shared information.

Key Term: Decentralized computing - an environment in which an organization splits computing power and locates it in functional business areas as well as on the desktops of knowledge workers.

Key Term: Shared information - an environment in which an organizations information is organized in one central location, allowing anyone to access and use it as he or she needs to.

Concept Reinforcement: Adding Value Class Participation

This is an excellent time to reinforce the notion of ethics, as well as privacy and security.

The proliferation of technology through decentralized computing has made it easy for people to access all kinds of information.

And, through the dissemination of information (shared information), people can once again access almost any information they want.

Discuss with your students the pros and cons of decentralized computing and shared information within the context of ethics and privacy.

To help your students organize their thoughts regarding information technology and MIS within an organization, provide them with the following six (6) roles and goals of information technology.

We list these with IT tools examples and business benefits examples in Figure 1.8 on page 21.

ROLE/GOALIT TOOLS EXAMPLESBUSINESS BENEFITS EXAMPLES

1. Increase employee productivity OLTP

TPS

CIS Reduce time

Reduce errors

Reduce costs

Enable customers to process their own transactions

2. Enhance decision making OLAP

DSS

GIS

EIS

AI

Data warehouses Generate alternatives

Recommend solutions

Drill down through information

3. Improve team collaboration Collaboration system

Groupware Manage knowledge within the organization

Support geographically dispersed teams

Facilitate communications

Develop applications quickly

4. Create business partnerships and alliances IOS

EDI Manage supply chains

Share expertise and intellect

Enable B2B e-commerce

5. Enable global reach Internet

Translation phones Take advantage of a cheaper/larger workforce

Advertise locally-made

Tap into global intellectual expertise

6. Facilitate organizational transformation Just any technology you can name, depending on its use Stay competitive

Offer new customer interfaces

Enter new markets

Increase Employee Productivity (p. 21-23)

Key Points:

The most fundamental role of IT is to increase productivity.

Productivity can mean reducing time, reducing errors, reducing costs, etc.

This is simply about automation.

Productivity is achieved through online analytical processing (OLTP).

OLTP system types include transaction processing systems (TPSs) and customer-integrated systems (CISs).

Key Term: Online transaction processing (OLTP) the gathering of input information, processing that information, and updating existing information to reflect the gathered and processed information.

Payroll systems, inventory reordering systems, and class registration systems are examples.

Key Term: Transaction processing system (TPS) processes transaction that occur within an organization.

Payroll systems and inventory reordering systems are examples.

Key Term: Customer-integrated system (CIS) extension of a TPS that places technology in the hands of an organizations customers and allows them to process their own transactions (see Figure 1.9 on page 22).

ATMs, and most e-commerce Web sites are examples.

Empowers customers.

Reduces the cost of processing a transaction.

Concept Reinforcement: Adding Value Class Participation

Ask your students to identify the different systems they use that are CISs.

Examples could include your schools class registration system, pay-per-view movies, paying for gas at the pump at the fuel station, self-scanning at the grocery store.

Also, ask them how each is a win-win situation for both the organization and the customer.

Enhance Decision Making (p. 23-24)

Key Points:

Technology can also aid in making decisions.

Sometimes it simply speeds the process of evaluating various alternatives.

At other times, it can actually make recommendations concerning what actions to take.

Key Term: Online analytical processing (OLAP) the manipulation of information to support decision making.

Key Term: Executive information system (EIS) a highly interactive IT system that allows you to first view highly summarized information and then choose how you would like to see greater detail, which may alert you to potential problems or opportunities. See Figure 1.10 on page 23.

Key Term: Artificial intelligence (AI) the science of making machines imitate human thinking and behaviour.

Key Term: Neural network an artificial intelligence system that is capable of finding and differentiating patterns.

Concept Reinforcement: Real HOT Group projects #1 and #A (CD-ROM) Technology can definitely aid in decision support.

To help your students understand the true productivity value of supporting decision-making, assign either Real HOT Group project #1 or #A. Both deal with using spreadsheet software to analyze information and make a decision.

For example, project #A requires your students to use spreadsheet software to evaluate 600 real estate transactions to determine where to focus sales efforts.

600 may seem like a lot of transactions, but spreadsheet tools such as filtering, pivot tables, and subtotals makes this project an easy one to complete.

This will give you the opportunity to demonstrate to your students just how valuable and productive technology can be in supporting decision-making efforts.

Improve Team Collaboration (p. 24-25)

Key Points:

Teams are certainly a characteristic of todays business environments.

Teams need technology tools to support meetings.

Teams need technology tools to share information.

Teams need technology tools to quickly build applications.

Key Term: Collaboration system a system that is designed specifically to improve the performance of teams by supporting the sharing and flow of information.

Key Term: Groupware the popular term for the software component that supports the collaborative efforts of a team.

Key Term: Group document database a powerful storage facility for organizing and managing all documents related to specific teams.

Concept Reinforcement: Industry Perspective Spar Aerospace Launches Information Sharing Intranet (p. 25)

Spar Aerospace uses the Intranet to facilitate information sharing between diefferent business units. Each site is dedicated to different product lines

The Intranet facilitates the coordination of activities and the sharing of information.

Create Business Partnerships and Alliances (p. 25-26)

Key Points:

No business is an island.

That is, no business can be an expert at doing everything.

So, businesses need to build partnerships and alliances to take advantages of each others expertise.

Wal-Mart and Vanity Fairs business partnership is certainly worth highlighting. Its on page 25.

Key Term: Interorganizational system (IOS) automates the flow of information between organizations to support the planning, development, production, and delivery of products and services.

Key Term: Electronic data interchange (EDI) the direct computer-to-computer transfer of transaction information contained in standard business documents, such as invoices and purchase orders, in a standard format.

Concept Reinforcement: Team Work Finding Business Partners and Alliances on the Web (p. 26)

In this project, your students will identify business partners and alliances on the Web by searching for sites with banner ads.

A banner ad is a small ad on one Web site that advertises the products and services of another business, usually another dot-com business.

Banner ads represent a simple way in which businesses can team up to reach more customers.

Your students may even find reciprocal banner ads two organizations both posting banner ads on each others sites.

For a good example of a banner ad, visit CNN at www.cnn.com.

Enable Global Reach (p. 26-27)

Key Points:

Once again, the business world is certainly global.

This is a good time to reinforce the notion of a global economy (discussed in an earlier section)

Honda actually produces more cars outside than inside Japan.

Honda also exports more cars from the U.S. than does GM, Ford, or Chrysler.

Businesses operating globally can take advantage of a cheaper labour force, gain significant expertise, and advertise locally made.

Technology definitely facilitates global reach by eliminating time and location obstacles.

However, technology cannot help overcome many cultural issues.

Key Term: Culture - the collective personality of a nation or society, encompassing language, traditions, currency, religion, history, music, and acceptable behaviours, among other things.

Facilitate Organizational Transformation (p. 27-28)

Key Points:

Finally, technology can facilitate organizational transformation in many ways.

Blockbuster still rents videos at its stores but also through pay-per-view thanks to technology.

Many technologies help here including customer-integrated systems, high-speed Internet technologies, and object-oriented technologies (discussed at length in Extended Learning Module G).

Concept Reinforcement: Industry Perspective Nokia From Paper, to Rubber, to Cell Phones and Telecommunications (p. 28)

Nokia is a great example of a company that has undergone significant transformation, thanks in part to technology.

It began as a paper producer over 150 years ago.

After a successful merger in the 1960s, it began its quest to dominate the wire-free telephone market, producing its first cell phone in 1987.

Today, it is the dominant provider of cell phones worldwide.

SUMMARY: STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES REVISITED

In each chapter and module, we revisit the student learning outcomes as a mechanism and format for summarizing the chapter.

Youll find this content for Chapter 1 on page 29-30.

Following the adage of, Tell them what youre going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them, you should walk through the summary with your students.

You should also inform your students that the summary is great support for studying for exams.

CLOSING CASE STUDY ONE

You and Your Information (p. 30-32)

This is a very interactive closing case study in which your students will answer a variety of questions related to:

How much your students trust organizations to maintain correct information about them

How much organizations trust your students to provide accurate information.

By answering the first set of questions, your students will probably come to understand that they rely greatly on organizations to maintain correct information about them.

By answering the second set of questions, your students will also come to realize that organizations in no way rely on individuals to provide accurate information.

Most of the questions surrounding this case study deal with your students personal views of information. We recommend that you cover this as an in-class case study.

QUESTIONS

1. Should you really trust organizations to maintain accurate information about you? In many instances, is it even worth your time and energy to verify the accuracy of that information?

DISCUSSION

Answers will be entirely up to your students.

2. What other examples can you think of in which you simply trust that your information is accurate? What other examples can you think of in which specific organizations dont assume that youre providing accurate information?

DISCUSSION

There are numerous examples here in both instances.

Again, let your students generate these their answers may surprise you (e.g., do people in chat rooms really tell the truth?).

3. What sort of impact will cyberspace business have on the issues of trust and accuracy? Will it become easier or more difficult for cyberspace business to assume that youre providing accurate information? Will you trust cyberspace business to maintain your information more accurately than traditional organizations?

DISCUSSION

This particular question has generated much debate in all walks of life private business, government, education, etc.

The truth is we dont know what overall impact cyberspace will have on trust and accuracy.

We certainly have anecdotal evidence both ways but no solid statistical information.

That will come with time (perhaps 10 more years).

4. What are the ethical issues involved in organizations sharing information about you? In some instances it may be okay and in your best interest. But what if the shared information about you is inaccurate? What damage could it cause? What recourse do you have, if any?

DISCUSSION

From a legal point of view, you can take an organization to court that provides inaccurate information about you.

However, the court system has had a difficult time determining to what extent damage has been done and how much should be compensated for the damage.

5. Its a real dilemma: Most people think that credit card offerers charge extremely high interest rates. But how many people do you know who actually go through the process of calculating their average daily balances, applying the interest rates, and then verifying that the interest charged on their accounts is correct? Why do people complain that they are being charged excessive interest rates and then fail to check the accuracy of the interest calculations?

DISCUSSION

Interesting question no right or wrong answers.

6. What about the future? As more organizations maintain even more information about you, should you become more concerned about accuracy? Why or why not?

DISCUSSION

A great final discussion question.

Again, no right or wrong answers.

CLOSING CASE STUDY TWO

How Much of Your Personal Information Do You Want Businesses to Know? (p. 32-33)

In this closing case study, your students will read about two organizations that use personal information to better provide products and services. The first organization is Mitchells of Westport, an upscale clothing retailer which uses information to provide more personalized service to its customers. Most of your students want organizations that use information in this way.

The second organization is Acxiom which maintains information on more than 200 million Americans. Acxiom sells this information to other organizations. For example, Allstate (an insurance company) buys information from Acxiom including applicant credit reports, driving records, claims histories, and family relationships. Many of your students will not be aware that Acxiom maintains so much information about them, and they will probably not like the fact that Acxiom sells it to whoever has the money to pay for it.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the role of information technology at Acxiom? Could it still maintain and provide such a wealth of information without using IT? Acxioms InfoBase holds 350 terabytes of information. How much information is that? How many double-spaced pages of text would it take to hold all that information?

DISCUSSION

Information technology is key at Acxiom. Acxiom uses technology to (1) organize and maintain its huge InfoBase and (2) sift through the InfoBase to provide customized information to its customers.

Acxiom could still organize, maintain, and provide all this information without the use of technology, but the tasks would be daunting and extremely expensive.

A terabyte is approximately 1 trillion bytes or characters, so Acxioms InfoBase hold 350 trillion characters of information.

Considering that a double-spaced page of text holds approximately 2,000 characters, Acxioms InfoBase contains 175 billion (thats 175,000,000,000) pages of information. Thats roughly 350 million (350,000,000) reams of paper (a ream has 500 pieces in it). A ream of paper is 2-inches tall. So, 350 million stacked reams of paper is 700 million inches tall. Thats roughly 60 million feet or slightly over 11,000 miles.

2. How has Mitchells used information and information technology to enable organizational transformation? Consider how Mitchells operated before it gathered and kept such a wealth of information and how it operates now in the information age.

DISCUSSION

Mitchells, like many clothing retailers used to wait for customers to walk in the doors and state their desires.

Now, Mitchells reaches out to its customers with special promotions based on their previous purchases.

This allows Mitchells to provide high-quality one-to-one service to its customers.

3. Acxiom and Mitchells have two entirely different sets of business goals Acxiom uses information to sell as a product (or commodity if you wish) to other businesses, while Mitchells uses information to better serve individual consumers. For each, discuss the flows of information relative to upward, downward, horizontal, and outward.

DISCUSSION

Acxioms main flow of information is outward to its customers. This makes sense because information is the product its selling.

Mitchells flows of information are in all directions. Upward flows include what was purchased on a daily basis to provide inventory. Downward flows include new directions for clothing. Horizontal flows would include information moving from department to department (e.g., shoes to suits) concerning customers. Outward flows would include advertisements Mitchells provides to its customers.

4. What are the ethical and legal issues relating to the fact that Acxiom may know your height and weight and is certainly willing to sell that information to the highest bidder? Can Acxiom legally own that information and sell it to any and every organization?

DISCUSSION

Acxiom can legally obtain such information and sell it to almost anyone.

How your students view this ethically will be entirely up to them.

For many, they will see no problem with it because they can rationalize getting better service and product offerings.

5. From where do you think Acxiom gathers its information? Could it establish a partnership with other organizations such as Mitchells and buy personal information? How do you feel about this?

DISCUSSION

Acxiom gathers its information from both the public and private sectors.

It can obtain driving records from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

It can obtain lists of graduating students from colleges and universities.

And it can buy information from private businesses such as Mitchells (business partnership).

Again, how your students feel about this will be largely determined by their ethics.

6. Many people dream of having a close personal relationship with a clothing retailer such as Mitchells. You simply walk in and the salesperson seems to know everything about you (and remembers you well). However, Mitchells communicates extensively with its customers by e-mail. Would you ever get tired of receiving e-mails that solicit your business? How many of those e-mails do you receive now on a weekly basis? What steps can you take to avoid them?

DISCUSSION

This is a great class discussion question.

Most young people today dont mind be bombarded by e-mail solicitations. They are in fact great filterers of information (and they do it with great speed).

Technologies to avoid solicitation e-mails include utilities you can add to your e-mail software and Web-based companies that will work to ensure youre removed from e-mailing lists.

7. Overall, whats your view of the information age in which we live? Are we better off because we have access to a wealth of information, including personal information? Should organizations such as Acxiom and Mitchells exploit their information for all its worth? Should they consider your feelings?

DISCUSSION

Again, another great discussion question.

This is an excellent opportunity for you to stress the importance of ethics and using technology in the best interests of society and people your actions will affect.

SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS (p. 34)

1. How does a knowledge worker differ from other types of workers?

ANSWER: A knowledge worker works with and produces information as a product. This is different from service workers that provide some sort of service (as opposed to information) or skilled workers that work with their hands to produce a physical product. p. 4

2. What is management information systems (MIS)?

ANSWER: Management information systems (MIS) deals with the planning for, development, management, and use of information technology tools to help people perform all tasks related to information processing and management. MIS deals with the coordination and use of three very important organizational resources information, information technology and people. p. 4

3. What is electronic commerce?

ANSWER: Electronic commerce is commerce, but it is commerce accelerated and enhanced by information technology, in particular, the Internet. It enables customers, consumers, and companies to form powerful new relationships that would not be possible without the enabling technologies. p. 5

4. How are telecommuting and the virtual workplace related?

ANSWER: Telecommuting is the use of communications technologies to work in a place other than a central location. The virtual workplace is a technology-enabled workplace with no walls or boundaries (including geographic and time). So, telecommuting is one aspect of the virtual workplace. p. 6

5. How is todays economy wants-based?

ANSWER: In todays economy, people spend a great deal of money on things that they dont necessarily need but rather want. Two examples are tennis shoes in which the heels light up with the pressure of each footstep and dog birthday cakes (or any pet treat for that matter). p. 7

6. What is a transnational firm?

ANSWER: A transnational firm is a firm that produces and sells products and services in countries all over the world. p. 8

7. What is the relationship between data and information?

ANSWER: Data are raw facts that describe a particular phenomenon (e.g., todays temperature). Information is data that have a particular meaning within a specific context. p. 9

8. What are the personal dimensions of information?

ANSWER: The personal dimensions of information include time (information when you need it and describing the right time period), location (information wherever you need it), and form (in a usable form and free or errors). p. 9

9. What are the three levels of management in an organization?

ANSWER: The three levels of management are strategic (providing overall guidance and direction), tactical (developing the goals and strategies outlined by strategic management), and operational (managing and directing day-to-day operations). p. 11

10. What is information granularity? How does it differ according to the levels of an organization?

ANSWER: Information granularity refers to the extent of detail within the information. Typically, people at higher levels in the organization need highly summarized or a coarse level of granularity, while people in the lower levels need highly detailed information. p. 12

11. What is the difference between internal and external information?

ANSWER: Internal information describes specific operational aspects of the organization while external information describes the environment surrounding the organization. p. 13

12. What are the six categories of information technology (IT) hardware?

ANSWER: The six categories of information technology hardware are: (1) input devices, (2) output devices, (3) storage devices, (4) CPU and RAM, (5) telecommunications devices, and (6) connecting devices. p. 18

13. How are decentralized computing and shared information related to each other?

ANSWER: Decentralized computing splits computing power and places it in functional business areas as well as on the desktops of knowledge workers. Shared information stores information in one central location so everyone has access to it when they need it. So, decentralized computing gives people the technology tools so they can access the shared information. p. 20

14. What are the six roles and goals of information technology?

ANSWER: The six roles and goals of information technology are: (1) increase employee productivity, (2) enhance decision making, (3) improve team collaboration, (4) create business partnerships and alliances, (5) enable global reach, and (6) facilitate organizational transformation. p. 21

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16. SHORT-QUESTION ANSWERS

Although they are not included in the book, these Question-Answers can be used by the instructor as an help to review the concepts covered in the chapter.17. The information age.

QUESTION: How would you characterize todays business environment? p. 4

18. Information, information technology, and people.

QUESTION: What are the three important organizational resources that management information systems deals with? p. 4

19. M-commerce.

QUESTION: What is the term used to describe electronic commerce conducted over a wireless device? p. 7

20. Global economy.

QUESTION: What is the environment in which customers, businesses, suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers all operate without regard to physical and geographical boundaries? p. 8

21. Data.

QUESTION: What are raw facts that describe a particular phenomenon? p. 9

22. An internal organizational Internet.

QUESTION: What is an intranet? p. 11

23. The downward flow of information.

QUESTION: What flow of information describes the strategies, goals, and directives that originate at one level in an organization and are then passed to lower levels? p. 13

24. Subjective information.

QUESTION: What information attempts to describe something that is unknown? p. 13

25. A person who knows how and when to apply technology.

QUESTION: What is a technology-literate knowledge worker? p. 14

26. Your behaviour toward other people.

QUESTION: What role do ethics play in your life? p. 16

27. CPU and RAM.

QUESTION: What category of technology hardware actually executes software instructions, tells all the other devices what to do, and holds your information, application software, and operating system software? p. 20

28. Decentralized computing.

QUESTION: What is an environment in which computing power is split in an organization and located in functional business areas as well as on the desktops of knowledge workers? p. 21

29. An extension of a transaction processing system.

QUESTION: What is a customer-integrated system? p. 23

30. The manipulation of information to support decision making.

QUESTION: What is online analytical processing (OLAP)? p. 23

ASSIGNMENTS AND EXERCISES (p. 35)

1. Surveying the Global Economy. Visit a local store in your area that sells clothing and perform a small survey. Pick up 10 different pieces of clothing (shoes, shirts, pants, belts, etc.) and note the country in which they were made. Based on just those 10 pieces of clothing, was percentage was made outside of Canada? What percentage was made in Canada? Do you think your results are typical of the distribution of clothes made within and outside Canada? Do your results support or contradict our assertion that we now live in a global economy? Why?

DISCUSSION

This assignment/project is ideal for small groups of students, usually 2 to 4.

Clothing is perhaps the single best product to survey to truly understand todays global environment.

Dont be surprised if many of your students choose 10 pieces of clothing that are all made outside the United States.

On the average, your students should find about 50-80% of their clothing pieces are made outside the United States.

This certainly supports the fact that we live in a global economy.

2. Finding Trust in TRUSTe. TRUSTe (www.truste.org) is an organization on the Web that has created specific guidelines for the use of your private information by Web sites to whom you offer it. If a Web site adheres to all of TRUSTes guidelines, that Web site can then display the TRUSTe logo on its site. That way, you know your private information is protected. TRUSTe has four main guidelines or principles that Web sites displaying its logo must follow. Connect to TRUSTe. What are the four guidelines? Are any or all of these guidelines important to you as an individual? If so, which one or ones and why? Should the government require that all Web sites follow these guidelines or a similar set? Why or why not?

DISCUSSION

The four guidelines required by TRUSTe are:

1. Adopting and implementing a privacy policy that factors in the goals of your individual Web site as well as consumer anxiety over sharing personal information online. 2. Posting notice and disclosure of collection and use practices regarding personally identifiable information (data used to identify, contact, or locate a person), via a posted privacy statement. 3. Giving users choice and consent over how their personal information is used and shared. 4. Putting data security and quality, and access measures in place to safeguard, update, and correct personally identifiable information. Whether or not these guidelines are personally important to your students is an interesting question. As young people continually grow up with technology, they are not nearly so concerned about privacy as older groups of people.

Most of your students (if they are the typical college age) will not be in support of the government intervention in these types of privacy policies. It makes for a great class discussion.

3. Reporting on Internet Statistics by Business Sector. NUA (www.nua.ie) claims to be the worlds leading resource for Internet statistics and trends. Connect to NUA and choose one of the business sectors located along the left side of the page. Pick a specific article discussing that particular business sector and prepare a short report for your class. Which business sector did you choose? What was the focus of the article you chose? Did some of the statistics surprise you? Considering that you might be interested in working in a business sector on which NUA tracks Internet statistics, would you find NUAs site useful in preparing to go into that business sector? Why or why not?

DISCUSSION

NUA is probably the leading site on the Internet for providing Internet statistics.

Its difficult to give you any concrete answers here as the site changes daily.

However, encourage your students to explore the Web site to learn more about the industry in which they plan to work.

4. Learning about an MIS Major. Using your schools catalogue of majors and courses (or the catalogue of another school), briefly outline what classes you would have to take to major in management information systems (MIS). Do any of the courses mention specific technology tools such as Java or Oracle? If so, which technology tools are listed? Now, do some searching on the Internet for salaries in the MIS field. What did you find? Does this particular major appeal to you? Why or why not?

DISCUSSION

According to what your school offers, your students will develop their own correct answers.

5. Reviewing the 100 Best Companies to Work for. Each year Fortune magazine devotes an issue to the top 100 best companies to work for. Find the most recent issue of Fortune that does this. First, develop a numerical summary that describes the 100 companies in terms of their respective industries. Which industries are the most dominant? Pick on of the more dominant industries (preferably one in which you would like to work) and choose a specific highlighted company. Prepare a short class presentation on why that company is among the 100 best to work for.

DISCUSSION

Because youll be assigning this exercise at different times (and because we wrote this exercise in mid 2002), we cant give you the correct answers for this project.

However, your students should find a considerable number of companies in the IT field that are the best to work for according to Fortune.

6. Redefining Business Operations through IT Innovation. Many businesses are building customer-integrated systems (CISs) as a way of redefining their operations through the use of information technology. We discussed several in this chapter, with the most notable and obvious example probably being that of banks offering ATMs. For the eight types of businesses below, identify how they are using technology to offer customer-integrated systems. As you describe a CIS for each business type, be sure to include what advantages you receive as a customer. Also describe how you would have to interface with each type of business if it did not offer a CIS.

Airlines

Grocery stores

Phone companies

Hotels

Fuel stations

Utility companies

Cable TV providers

Universities and colleges

DISCUSSION

We provide a couple of possible answers here.

Grocery stores self-scanning systems; major benefit to the customer is in getting through the checkout process quickly when you have only a couple of items.

Hotels on demand-movies, express checkout, and Internet access; major benefits to the customer include convenience and better hospitality.

Airlines e-tickets; major benefit to the customer is in not having to hold and maintain a paper ticket.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS (p. 36)

1. Knowledge workers dominate todays business environment. However, many industries still need workers who do not fall into the category of knowledge workers. What industries still need skilled workers? Can you see a time when these jobs will be replaced by knowledge workers? Can you envision circumstances that would actually cause an economy to do an about face and begin needing more skilled workers than knowledge workers?

DISCUSSION

The simple fact of the matter is that there are very few if any industries that still need non-knowledge workers (for lack of a better term). Clerks working at convenience store cash registers can be considered knowledge workers. Perhaps in some industries such as construction and manufacturing there are workers who solely work with their hands to produce a physical product. But that is certainly changing as companies in these industries are empowering those employees to make decisions and be innovative (within reason). Undoubtedly, very (very) few industries will ever do an about face and begin needing more skilled workers than knowledge workers.

2. Consider todays economic environmentwe have characterized it as the e.conomy, the now economy, the global economy, and the arriving digital economy. For each of these characterizations, identify why its an effect causing the remaining three. That is, how is the e causing the now, global, and arriving digital economies, how is the now economy causing the e, global, and arriving digital economies, etc.

DISCUSSION

Students can talk about access and speed to data and information

How has technology helped or hindered our economy?

How has society changed with digital economies?

31. The three key resources in management information systems (MIS) are information, information technology, and people. Which of these three resources is the most important? Why? The least important? Why?

DISCUSSION

The most important resource is people, plain and simple. People are the heart of any business, regardless of its industry and regardless of the extent to which it uses technology.

The least important is really technology. We simply use technology to work with information. If information were not so important, we would need much less technology.

32. Telecommuting is like all things: it has a good side and it has a bad side. What are some of the disadvantages or pitfalls of telecommuting? How can these be avoided?

DISCUSSION

The most notable pitfall is that many people may not be as productive when away from the office.

This can be avoided by choosing telecommuters according to work ethics, how motivated they are, and whether or not they are self starters.

Another pitfall is that telecommuters often feel that they are not a part of the organization because they get little or no time around the water cooler to informally network with other employees.

This can be avoided by having telecommuters come into the office frequently for formal office visits and meetings.

33. As an information-literate knowledge worker for a local distributor of imported foods and spices, youve been asked to prepare a customer mailing list that will be sold to international cuisine restaurants in your area. If you do, would you be acting ethically? If you dont consider the proposal ethical, what if your boss threatened to fire you if you didnt prepare the list? Do you believe you would have any legal recourse if you didnt prepare the list and were subsequently fired?

DISCUSSION

Answers here will vary according to your students ethics.

It is legal for the distributor to sell a customer mailing list. So, depending on in which state you work (and whether or not you work for a union), you may be subject to being fired.

34. How is your school helping you prepare to take advantage of information technology? What courses have you taken that included teaching you how to use technology? What software packages were taught? To best prepare to enter the job market, how can do you determine what software you need to learn?

DISCUSSION

Answers here will depend on the extent to which your school uses and takes advantage of technology in the classroom and the extent to which it teaches the use of technology.

You might get some good ideas from your students concerning how you could better use technology to prepare them for the workplace.

35. Consider the ATM system that is now worldwide. How does it address your personal dimensions of time, location, and form? Besides just tracking what transactions youve completed using an ATM, what other information might your bank want to know and use concerning your use of the ATM system?

DISCUSSION

Time you can use an ATM any time of the day, year around.

Location ATMs are all over the world, even in the most rural areas.

Form you can get the local currency if youre traveling abroad even if your bank is in the U.S.

Banks track a variety of information on people who use ATMs frequently time of day, location, deposits versus withdrawals, number of account inquiries, etc.

36. Information granularity changes according to the level of an organization. Consider your school, the classes it offers, and the number of students who register in those classes. What sort of information exhibiting coarse granularity would people at the highest levels of your school want to know? What sort of information exhibiting fine granularity would people at the lower levels of your school want to know? As a consumer (student), do you need fine or coarse information? Or perhaps both?

DISCUSSION

Coarse granularity number of students taking elective classes (for determining whether or not your school should continue to offer them); number of students taking classes by time of day and day of week (for optimal scheduling); number of students by major.

Fine granularity most notably, students by name taking a class (for the instructor).

As a student consumer, you need both. Coarse granularity would include the total number of students in a class (i.e., has it reached its enrollment limit). Fine granularity would include a detailed listing of classes being offered (time of day, instructor, location).

37. In addition to using neural networks to monitor credit card fraud, the same companies also use neural networks to determine whether or not you are a creditworthy risk. By feeding in thousands of credit card applications, the neural network develops a pattern of who is and what isnt a creditworthy risk? Basically, the neural network compares your credit application to those of past ones and recommends an action. What do you think about that? Should you be given or denied a credit card based on what others have done (or failed to do)? Why or why not?

DISCUSSION

Answers here from your students will vary greatly.

The key is that these neural networks are not developing patterns based on such characteristics as gender and race.

38. Many schools use groupware to offer distance learning classes. Instead of going to class, you communicate with your instructors and classmates via technology. Would you like to take distance learning classes? What are the advantages? Can you learn as much without going to class and personally interacting with your instructor and classmates? What might be some of the disadvantages of distance learning? Is there a happy medium how about going to school for only one class session per week and then attending the other virtually via technology? Is this a good or bad idea?

DISCUSSION

Again, answers here will vary greatly among your students.

Many students want to come to class because they enjoy the campus experience and being with their friends.

Others will want distance learning so they wont have to drive, can live in other locations, etc.

39. We often say that hardware is the physical interface to a technology system while software is the intellectual interface. How is your hardware your physical interface to your computer? How is your software your intellectual interface to your computer? Do you see technology progressing to the point that we may no longer distinguish between hardware and software and thus no longer perceive differing physical and intellectual interfaces?

DISCUSSION

Hardware is the physical interface because it is the physical devices that make up a computer. Hardware is the also the set of devices we interact with physically typing on a keyboard, moving a mouse, viewing something on the screen.

Software takes over steps that we would otherwise perform with our mind adding two numbers together, creating a graph, etc. So, it is our intellectual interface.

Who knows if technology will ever progress to the point that we cant distinguish between hardware and software.

However, our view of technology is changing. We see it as an integrated set of tools. That view may make hardware and software indistinguishable.

REAL HOT ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Using the Internet as a Tool to Find a Job (p. 37-39)

This is a great starting e-commerce project to enable your students to better understand that the Internet is not just a fun place to surf and meet people. Todays electronic job market is growing by leaps and bounds.

Many organizations rely exclusively on the Internet to advertise job openings and accept applications from potential employees.

We recommend that you create six groups of students, each one of which will address a different section in this project. Ideally, there should be about 4 to 5 students per group. If your class is large, all of your students dont have to complete this project you can assign the remaining students to the e-commerce projects in other chapters.

Whatever the case, this project is worthy of a class demonstration of some of the findings of your students.

Job Databases

There are hundreds if not thousands of job databases on the Web.

You should encourage your students to become very good at searching various job database sites in different ways by location, by job title, by key word, by industry, etc.

This is a valuable class demonstration consider having some of your students demonstrate how to search various sites.

If you want, you can also ask your class to compile a list of job database sites that are particular to their type of major (business, technical, service, etc.).

Creating and Posting an Electronic Resume

We devoted all of Extended Learning Module I to developing an e-portfolio, a much broader gallery than a simple electronic resume.

Consider having your students look at that module.

When creating an electronic resume for a job database Web site, your students will most often fill in a template with their personal information and be allowed to change it whenever they want to.

Searching Newspapers the New-Fashioned Way

This is a good section if your students want to find employment locally.

Most major newspapers also post jobs in other locations.

Most major newspapers have also developed business partnerships with some of the major job database Web sites such as Monster.com.

Locating That All Important Internship

You should have all of your students work through this section.

This is a growing employment area on the Web.

There are literally thousands and thousands of posted internships.

Have some of your students apply for some internships through these sites and monitor their progress through the term.

Interviewing and Negotiating

Weve noticed that very few undergraduate students (and not that many more graduate students) possess the appropriate interviewing and negotiating skills.

You might want to take some time in class and go over some of the better tips and suggestions on some of the better sites your students find.

Going Right to the Source: The Organization You Want

Businesses are certainly posting employment opportunities on their Web sites.

Many are posting internships and summer employment as well.

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