H17 MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Students should have a working knowledge of the IMIS Code of Professional Conduct and be able to understand and apply the ethical and legal concepts contained therein.

By a single 3 hour externally set examination paper.

1. To examine the relationship between information systems, organisations and management.

2. To review fundamental concepts of management and organisation.

3. To describe traditional informational support systems for managers and executives.

4. To present the major issues concerning the management, development and operation of information systems.

1. Introduce the concept of an information system.
2. Explain the strategic use of information technology and the effect of advances in telecommunications.
3. Explain the purpose of transaction processing and management reporting systems.
4. Explain systems and management concepts and their relevance for information systems.
5. Discuss the need for special types of MIS and describe their components.
6. Identify the cultural dimension of information systems development.
7. Examine the operational management of information systems.
8. Discuss the planning issues concerning the development of IS applications.
9. Control and maintenance of information systems.
10. Describe concepts and principles of professionalism.

Information systems components

Data, information and knowledge

Formal and informal information flows

Information as a resource

Organisations and management

The information system as a socio-technical system

Issues that contribute towards the planning and development of strategic information systems.

Applications of information technology for competitive advantages and business innovation. Benefits and problems presented to organisations when using the Internet/Intranet/Extranet. Business Process Re-engineering (BPR).

Informational needs of organisations

Capabilities of information systems from an organisational perspective

Information requirements for management

Levels of planning and control with MIS

MIS support for business functions

Management reporting systems and transaction processing systems 

Indicative Content by Learning Outcomes

Systems approach, organisational design, MIS in organisational control e.g. feedback etc.

Management theory and management functions

Concepts of planning

Role of information systems in the planning process e.g. modelling and forecasting

Using MIS to enhance management control: performance reports, break-even analysis, calculation of financial ratios e.g. return on investment

How managers function

Decision making

Components of decision support systems

Types of DSS

Building a DSS

Executive information systems

Organisational aspects of DSS and Eis

Factors of organisational complexity in relation to information systems development. Importance of the human aspects to information systems, especially organisational politics and its impact on project justification and appraisal. Contribution of system development approaches (such as Soft Systems Methodology and ETHICS) which address cultural factors.

Measures of performance to cover performance factors and service level agreements. Basis of total operating costs (TOC), configurations for differing approaches for the provision of information services, taking into account the respective contributions and constraints of, amongst others, PCs, mainframes, net works and databases. Departmental and project budgets, distinguishing between their different purposes and demands, including specific reference to training costs.

Information systems planning methodologies (ref: H13)

Evaluating MIS applications

• cost-benefit analysis

• measuring added value through business benefits

Methods of acquiring information systems e.g. purchasing a package compared with in-house development MIS development projects

Threats to security, privacy, and confidentiality in MIS operations (ref: H14 and DIT-1)

Information systems controls e.g. administrative controls, physical protection, controlling access etc (ref: IT-1)

Auditing information systems (ref: H14)

• Maintaining operational systems
• Database maintenance
• Software maintenance (ref: H16)

Professionalism concepts in relation to professional practices such as following a code of conduct.

Business ethics and the professional. Professionalism in relation to quality assurance.