Five elements of a CBIS System …We live in the Information Age. To survive in this Information Age, one must acquire the relevant CBIS skills for one’s discipline, remain current and competent in these skills and effectively work in a diverse and global community. Otherwise, one will suffer from automation, disintermediation, outsourcing and off-shoring…” Introduction It is a technological era. We need to have contact with all the happenings around us and it is only possible by Internet and for this we require computers.
Another reason is that for handling large gulps of information, at all the levels, whether government, society or business, we need computer. As communications expand, covering more and more areas of the globe, more computers, for more people will be needed. Skilled works will be needed to operate the computers process the information and maintain the computers. The technology will advance one must advance with it. There are 5 elements of a CBIS system. 1. People; people will use the computer system, and people will develop the system on a basis of requirement 2.
Data; Data is a collection of raw facts and figures; CBIS is used to process that information 3. Procedures; are the actions used by people to process the Data, operate the system, data entry, communication and maintenance 4. Hardware; different types of Hardware are used for CBIS, imput hardware, processing hardware, output hardware, and storage hardware 5. Software; different types of application software are used like word processing, spreadsheets, databases, system software includes operation systems and communication software.
These elements work together to form a computer based information system. Key Concepts: Flattening of The Organizational Hierarchy Simply put it means decreasing the number of levels the information flows through. Where as most organizations have top management and middle management, the hierarchy, information would flow through them. Perhaps altering the information just like the telephone game would. As information flows more freely through the organization there is less need for the ‘middle man’ thus a flattening of the hierarchy. http://blog. tomevslin. om/2005/02/the_flattening__1. html Tom Evslin, 2005, accessed 8/3/2009 The above website aided in giving me the basic understanding of Flattening an Organization. http://novationsjournal. org/content/article. pl? sid=07/03/12/1534255 NOVAtions Journal March 2007, accessed 8/5/2009 This website described a real world application of Flattening the Organizational Hierarchy. http://www. worldchanging. com/archives/003905. html Jeremy Faludi 2005, accessed 8/4/2009 Information flows through computers. It is because of this that an organization can be flattened.
Knowledge Workers A knowledge worker in today’s workforce is an individual that is valued for their ability to interpret information within a specific subject area. Due to the rapid global expansion of information-based transactions and interactions being conducted via the Internet, there has been an ever-increasing demand for a workforce that is capable of performing planning, developing and implementing knowledge management projects. Knowledge Workers are now estimated to outnumber all other workers in North America by at least a four to one margin. ttp://searchcrm. techtarget. com/sDefinition/0,,sid11_gci212450,00. html Dean Horvath 2001, accessed 8/5/2009 This site helped to define my understanding of a knowledge worker. http://futuretense. corante. com/archives/2006/02/27/a_reading_list_for_aspiring_knowledge_workers. php Jim McGee 2005, accessed 8/5/2009 Explained the need for self-directed education to remain ahead of the game. http://navcenter. borgess. com/KworkerManual/ePages/front_page/kw_def. html accessed 8/5/2009 This site better defines a knowledge worker and their unction in an organization. Computers are now and will continue to be the main form of receiving information. Ever expanding community using computers means new solutions, and plans need to be developed. This is the function of the knowledge worker. Data Workers Are those that enter and control the accuracy of information systems. Organizations need to process a rapidly growing amount of information. Data entry and information processing workers help ensure the smooth and efficient handling of information.
By keying in text, entering data into a computer, operating a variety of office machines, and performing other clerical duties, data workers help organizations keep up with the rapid changes of the information systems. http://www. informationweek. com/news/global-cio/compensation/showArticle. jhtml? articleID=6502220 Eileen Colkin 2002, accessed 8/5/2009 This site spoke of the job outlook for data workers. It did express the need for advanced skills to be marketable. http://econpapers. repec. org/article/tafecsysr/v_3a18_3ay_3a2006_3ai_3a3_3ap_3a221-255. tm Edward Nathan Wolff 2006 8/5/2009 This site talks about employment trends from 1950-2000 Computers are the tools that data workers use to begin the flow of information. While data workers need to be skilled in different types of programs and procedures to make the computers effective and to keep the information flowing. Automation Automation is the use of control systems in concert with other applications of information technology to control industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human intervention.
Automation plays an increasingly important role in the global economy and in daily experience. Engineers strive to combine automated devices with mathematical and organizational tools to create complex systems for a rapidly expanding range of applications and human activities. http://www. automation. com/ accessed 8/5/2009 This site offered articles pertaining to the use and implementation of automation. http://www. itcompany. com/inforetriever/automate. htm accessed 8/5/2009 This site offered various articles discussing the future of automation. http://www. labautomation. rg/ accessed 8/5/2009 this site similar to the above listed site discusses emerging technology in robotics and artificial intelligence. Automation is possible because of computers. The computers instruct robots to perform functions normally done by humans. Disintermediation In economics, disintermediation is the removal of intermediaries in a supply chain: “cutting out the middleman”. Instead of going through traditional distribution channels, which had some type of intermediate (such as a distributor, wholesaler, broker, or agent), companies may now deal with every customer directly, for example via the Internet.
One important factor is a drop in the cost of servicing customers directly. http://www. webopedia. com/TERM/D/disintermediation. html accessed 8/5/2009 This site provided the basic definition of disintermediation. http://www. informationweek. com/794/94uwmh. htm;jsessionid=FVIJGDT2KLEHBQE1GHOSKH4ATMY32JVN Michael Hammer accessed 8/5/2009 The article the ‘myth’ of disintermediation. http://www. blackplasticglasses. com/2009/05/11/disintermediation/ Evan May 2009, accessed 8/5/2009 Because of the information systems, disintermediation is possible.
Allowing customers to interact with manufactures directly, rather than going through a ‘middleman’. Reintermediation Reintermediation can be defined as the reintroduction of an intermediary between end users (consumers) and a producer. This term applies especially to instances in which disintermediation has occurred first. Although at the beginnings of the Internet revolution, electronic commerce brought the idea of disintermediation to many producers, as a way of cutting costs or increasing profits, many (if not most) of those producers found out that it was not so easy. It was thought that the Internet would disintermediate” middlemen and drives them out of business by having producers sell directly to users. http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/reintermediation. html Business Dictionary accessed 8/5/2009 this site helped define the concept of reintermediation http://papers. ssrn. com/sol3/papers. cfm? abstract_id=1273042 Jon Garon Hamline University School of Law 2008, accessed 8/5/2009 This site discussed how businesses are re-thinking Disintermediation trend. http://74. 125. 155. 132/search? q=cache:Xp_yRFyVxO4J:www. newyorkfed. org/newsevents/events_archive/research/2001/Domowitz. df+Reintermediation&cd=19&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a New York Fed Ian Domowitz accessed 8/5/2009 this paper discusses the cost advantages and disadvantages to reintermediation. Because of the information age and flattening of organizations due to computers companies used disintermediation. Now it is swinging back the other way. Offshoring Offshoring is defined as the movement of a business process done at a company in one country to the same or another company in another, different country. Almost always work is moved due to a lower cost of operations in the new location.
A company moving an internal business unit from one country to another would be offshoring http://management. about. com/cs/people/a/offshoring104. htm F. John Reh, About. com, accessed 8/5/2009 this article discusses the reasons large companies began offshoring as a way to increase their profits. http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/07_25/b4039001. htm Michael Mandel Business week, accessed 8/4/2009 this site discusses how the cost to American employment has been understated. That because of the reporting the true extent has been obscured. http://www. epi. org/publications/entry/bp155/
Josh Bivens Economic Policy Institute accessed 8/5/2009 this article-discussed studies done regarding offshoring white-collar jobs. Because of the cost of labor for white collar jobs more and more companies are “offshoring’ their IT departments. Outsourcing Unlike offshoring, which transfer an organizations job out of the country, outsourcing is transferring their jobs within the country. An example would be contracting out the IT department to cut costs. Outsourcing is thriving in the US as well as offshoring to other countries. http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/06_05/b3969401. tm Business Week accessed 8/5/2009 Discusses how companies large and small are utilizing outsourcing, making them better able to compete in a global economy. http://www. outsourcing-toolkit. com/ Outsourcing toolkit accessed 8/5/2009 this site offers a kit to help a company outsource their IT department successfully. http://www. wisegeek. com/what-is-outsourcing. htm Wise Geek, accessed 8/5/2009 Defines more specifically what outsourcing is, and how it can benefit companies. Because of computers and the ‘information age’ jobs that have been traditionally done in house can now be done outside. Diversity
The “business case for diversity”, theorizes that in a global marketplace, a company that employs a diverse workforce (both men and women, people of many generations, people from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds etc. ) is better able to understand the demographics of the marketplace it serves and is thus better equipped to thrive in that marketplace than a company that has a more limited range of employee demographics. http://www. gartner. com/press_releases/asset_139657_11. html accessed 8/5/2009 this site discusses the need for diversity specifically in the IT industry in order to be competitive in a global economy. ttp://www. adamsmithesq. com/archives/2007/01/everything-you-always-wan. html Adam Smith accessed 8/5/2009 this article discusses diversity in law. But it examines the effect of diversity initiatives in the workplace. http://www. topmba. com/mbacareers/mba_careers_news/article/hewlett_packard_diversity_in_action/ Adrian Barrett talks to Jo Jeffery accessed 8/5/2009 this interview is about diversity at HP. How it is critical to their business and employees. All my research reinforces the need for diversity not only in non-IT companies but IT in general.
As the information age expands there is a need for the workforce to be comprised of the people they represent, throughout the world. Globalization Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well being in societies around the world. http://www. globalpolicy. org/globalization. html
Global Policy Forum accessed 8/5/2009 this article defines globalization. http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/globalization/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy accessed 8/5/2009 Essay discusses the history of globalization and what it means in contemporary society. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Anti-globalization_movement Wikipedia accessed 8/5/2009 Discusses the anti-globalization movement. Basically opposition to large multi national companies exploiting developing countries work forces. Current globalization exists because of computers and information technologies. Relationships Among the Key Concepts:
All of the key concepts are interrelated by way of the information age. They represent past, current and future trends. Globalization, Outsourcing and Offshoring all relate to the employment outlook for a changing world. Diversity is the face of the new work force. Disintermediation saw less of the ‘middle man’ allowing information to flow less obstructed. As companies recognized that this wasn’t always the best solution Reintermediation Began. Automation has taken away many of the jobs that were previously done by humans as a result there was a need and an increase for Knowledge workers
