Tugas I
Kuliah
Sistem Informasi
Dosen :
Caca E. Supriana, S.Si., MT.
Teknik
Informatika Universitas Pasundan
2015
Business Process
A
business process is a collection of related activities that produce a product
or a service of value to the organization, its business partners, and/or its customers. A
process has inputs and outputs, and its activities can be measured. Many
processes cross functional areas in an organization, such as product
development, which involves design, engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and
dis-tribution. Other processes involve only one functional area. Table 1.1
shows examples of business processes in the functional areas of an
organization.
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An
organization’s business processes can lead to competitive advantages if they
enable the com-pany to innovate or execute better than competitors. Business
processes can also be liabilities if they impede organizational responsiveness
and efficiency. As an example, consider the airline industry.
It has
become a competitive necessity for all of the airlines to offer electronic
ticket purchases via their Web sites. At the same time, however, these sites
must be highly responsive and have the most current information on flights and
prices. A site that provides outdated or inaccurate information will hurt
rather than improve business.
Information Systems
It has
been said that the purpose of information systems is to get the right
information to the right people
at the right time in the right amount and in the right format. Because
information systems are
intended to supply useful information, we begin by defining information and two
closely related terms, data and knowledge.
Data, Information, and Knowledge
One of
the primary goals of information systems
is to economically process data into information and knowledge. Let’s
take a closer look at these concepts.
Data items refer to an elementary
description of things, events, activities, and transactions that are recorded,
classified, and stored but not organized to convey any specific meaning. Data
items can be
numbers, letters, figures, sounds, or images. Examples of data items are a
student grade in a class and the number of hours an employee worked in a
certain week.
Information refers to data that have
been organized so that they have meaning and value to the recipient. For
example, a grade point average (GPA) is data, but a student’s name coupled with
his or her GPA is information. The recipient interprets the meaning and draws
conclusions and impli-cations from the information.
Knowledge consists of data and/or
information that have been organized and processed to convey understanding,
experience, accumulated learning, and expertise as they apply to a current business
problem. For example, a company recruiting at your school has found over time
that students with grade point averages over 3.0 have had the most success in
its management program. Based on its experience, that company may decide to
interview only those students with GPAs over 3.0.
Organizational
knowledge, which reflects the experience and expertise of many people, has
great value to
all employees. Now that we have a better idea of what information is and how it
can be organized to convey knowledge, we shift our focus to the ways that
organizations organize and use information. To do this we must look closely at
an organization’s information technology architecture and information technology
infrastructure. These concepts underlie
all information systems within the organization.
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Information Technology Architecture
An
organization’s information technology (IT) architecture is a high-level map or
plan of the infor-mation assets in an organization. It is both a guide for
current operations and a blueprint for future directions. The IT architecture
integrates the entire organization’s business needs for information, the IT
infrastructure, and all applications. The IT architecture is analogous to the
architecture of a house. An architectural plan describes how the house is to be
constructed, including how the various components of the house, such as the
plumbing and electrical systems, are to be integrated. Similarly, the IT
architecture shows how all aspects of information technology in an
organization fit together. Figure 1.2 illustrates the IT architecture of an
online travel agency.
Information Technology Infrastructure
An
organization’s information technology (IT) infrastructure consists of the
physical facilities, IT components, IT services, and IT personnel that support
the entire organization (see Figure 1.3). Start-ing from the bottom of Figure
1.3, we see that IT components are the
computer hardware, software, and communications technologies that provide the
foundation for all of an organization’s informa-tion systems. As we move up the
pyramid, we see that IT personnel use IT
components to produce IT services, which include data management, systems
development, and security concerns.
An
organization’s IT infrastructure should not be confused with its platform. As
we can see in Figure 1.3, a firm’s platform consists only of its IT components.
Therefore, a platform is a part of an IT infrastructure. IT infrastructures and
platforms are critically important to organizations in today’s compet-itive
environment. In fact, modern organizations operate within a global, Web-based
platform, which we discuss in the next section.
The Global Web-Based Platform
The
global, Web-based platform that has recently emerged spans the world and is
best represented by the Internet and the functionality of the World Wide Web.
The platform enables individuals to connect, compute, communicate, collaborate,
and compete everywhere and anywhere, anytime and all the time; to access
limitless amounts of information, services, and entertainment; to exchange knowledge;
and to produce and sell goods and services. It operates without regard to
geography, time, distance, or even language barriers. In essence, this platform
makes globalization possible. Globalization is the integration and
interdependence of economic, social, cultural, and ecological facets of life,
enabled by rapid advances in information technology. Historically,
globalization has occurred in three stages, which we examine in the next
section.
The Three Stages of Globalization
In his
book The World Is Flat, Pulitzer
Prize-winning author Thomas Friedman argues that the world is flat in the sense
that the global competitive playing field is being leveled. Friedman identifies
three eras of globalization. The first era, Globalization 1.0, lasted from 1492 to 1800. During this
era, the force behind globalization was how much muscle, horsepower, wind
power, or steam power a coun-try had and could deploy.
The
second era, Globalization 2.0, lasted from 1800 to 2000. In this era, the force
behind glob-alization was multinational companies; that is, companies that had
their headquarters in one coun-try but operated in several countries. In the
first half of this era, globalization was driven by falling transportation
costs, generated by the development of the steam engine and the railroads. In
the sec-ond half of this era, globalization was driven by fa lling
telecommunications costs resulting from the telegraph, telephones, computers,
satellites, fiber-optic cable, and the Internet and World Wide Web. The global
economy began appearing during this era.
Around
the year 2000, we entered Globalization 3.0, which was driven by the
convergence of ten forces that Friedman calls “flatteners” (discussed below).
In era 3.0, the global, Web-based plat-form has emerged. Each era has been
characterized by a distinctive focus. The focus of Globalization 1.0 was on countries,
the focus of Globalization 2.0 was on companies, and the focus of Globalization
3.0 is on groups and individuals. This observation makes our discussion all the
more important for each of you, because you will be competing with people from
all over a flat world when you graduate. Table 1.2 takes a look at the ten
flatteners that have led to the emergence of the global, Web-based platform. In
essence, you are entering a flat world that is made possible by the global,
Web-based plat-form we have described. This platform has had an enormous impact
on many industries, as IT’s About Business 1.1 illustrates.
Source :
Introduction to Information Systems, Rainer
Jr., R. Kelly & Cegielski, Casey G., 3rd Edition, John Wiley
& Sons
Tugas :
1. Baca dan
pahami.
2. Terjemahkan
ke dalam Bhs. Indonesia dan rangkumlah.
3. Tulis
rangkuman menggunakan ballpoint dalam kertas A4 maks. 2 lembar.
4. Tulis
Nama, NRP dan tanda tangan mhs. pada awal rangkuman.
5. Dikumpulkan
pada pertemuan berikutnya, terlambat mengumpulkan tidak akan dinilai !
Selamat bekerja !
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