Management Information System Essay Example for Free

Management Information System Essay Organizations and Information Systems * Information technology and organizations influence one another * Complex relationship influenced by organization’s structure, business processes, politics, culture, environment, and management decisions The Two-Way Relationship between Organizations and Information Technology This complex two-way relationship is mediated by many factors, not the least of which are the decisions made—or not made—by managers. Other factors mediating the relationship include the organizational culture, structure, politics, business processes, and environment. What is an organization? * Technical definition: * Stable, formal social structure that takes resources from environment and processes to produce outputs. * A formal legal entity with internal rules and procedures, as well as a social structure * Behavioral definition: * A collection of rights, privileges, obligations, and responsibilities that is delicately balanced over a period of time through conflict and conflict resolution The Technical Microeconomic Definition of the Organization In the microeconomic definition of organizations, capital and labor (the primary production factors provided by the environment) are transformed by the firm through the production process into products and services (outputs to the environment). The products and services are consumed by the environment, which supplies additional capital and labor as inputs in the feedback loop. Figure 3-2 The Behavioral View of Organizations The behavioral view of organizations emphasizes group relationships, values, and structures. Figure 3-3 * Features of organizations * All modern organizations share some characteristics, such as: * Use of hierarchical structure * Accountability, authority in system of impartial decision-making * Adherence to principle of efficiency * Other features include: Routines and business processes and organizational politics, culture, environments and structures * Routines and business processes * Routines (standard operating procedures) Precise rules, procedures, and practices developed to cope with virtually all expected situations * Business processes: Collections of routines * Business firm: Collection of business processes Routines, Business Processes, and Firms All organizations are composed of individual routines and behaviors, a collection of which make up a business process. A collection of business processes make up the business firm. New information system applications require that individual routines and business processes change to achieve high levels of organizational p erformance. Figure 3-4 * Organizational politics * Divergent viewpoints lead to political struggle, competition, and conflict * Political resistance greatly hampers organizational change * Organizational culture: * Encompasses set of assumptions that define goal and product * What products the organization should produce * How and where it should be produced * For whom the products should be produced * May be powerful unifying force as well as restraint on change * Organizational environments: Organizations and environments have a reciprocal relationship * Organizations are open to, and dependent on, the social and physical environment * Organizations can influence their environments * Environments generally change faster than organizations * Information systems can be instrument of environmental scanning, act as a lens Environments and Organizations Have a Reciprocal Relationship Environments shape what organizations can do, but organizations can influence their environments and decide to chang e environments altogether. Information technology plays a critical role in helping organizations perceive environmental change and in helping organizations act on their environment. Figure 3-5 * Organizational structure * Five basic kinds of structure * Entrepreneurial: Small start-up business * Machine bureaucracy: Midsize manufacturing firm * Divisional zed bureaucracy: Fortune 500 firms * Professional bureaucracy: Law firms, school systems, hospitals * Adhocracy: Consulting firms * Other Organizational Features * Goals * Constituencies * Leadership styles * Tasks Surrounding environments How Information Systems Impact Organizations and Business Firms * Economic impacts * IT changes relative costs of capital and the costs of information * Information systems technology is a factor of production, like capital and labor * IT affects the cost and quality of information and changes economics of information * Information technology helps firms contract in size because it can reduce transaction costs (the cost of participating in markets). Outsourcing expands * Transaction cost theory Firms seek to economize on cost of participating in market (transaction costs) * IT lowers market transaction costs for firm, making it worthwhile for firms to transact with other firms rather than grow the number of employees The Transaction Cost Theory of the Impact of Information Technology on the Organization Firms traditionally grew in size to reduce transaction costs. IT potentially reduces the costs for a given size, shifting the transaction cost curve inward, opening up the possibility of revenue growth without increasing size, or even revenue growth accompanied by shrinking size. Figure 3-6 * Agency theory: * Firm is nexus of contracts among self-interested parties requiring supervision * Firms experience agency costs (the cost of managing and supervising) which rise as firm grows * IT can reduce agency costs, making it possible for firms to grow without adding to the costs of supervising, and without adding employees The Agency Cost Theory of the Impact of Information Technology on the Organization As firms grow in size and complexity, traditionally they experience rising agency costs. IT shifts the agency cost curve down and to the right, enabling firms to increase size while lowering agency costs. Figure 3-7 * Organizational and behavioral impacts * IT flattens organizations * Decision-making pushed to lower levels * Fewer managers needed (IT enables faster decision-making and increases span of control) * Postindustrial organizations * Organizations flatten because in postindustrial societies, authority increasingly relies on knowledge and competence rather than formal positions Flattening Organizations Information systems can reduce the number of levels in an organization by providing managers with information to supervise larger numbers of workers and by giving lower-level employees more decision-making authority. Figure 3-8 * Organizational resistance to change * Information systems become bound up in organizational politics because they influence access to a key resource information * Information systems potentially change an organization’s structure, culture, politics, and work * Most common reason for failure of large projects is due to organizational amp; political resistance to change Organizational Resistance and the Mutually Adjusting Relationship between Technology and the Organization Implementing information systems has consequences for task arrangements, structures, and people. According to this model, to implement change, all four components must be changed simultaneously. Figure 3-9 * The Internet and organizations * The Internet increases the accessibility, storage, and distribution of information and knowledge for organizations * The Internet can greatly lower transaction and agency costs * E. g.

Theme of Hardship in The Grapes of Wrath Essay -- essays research pape

The Grapes of Wrath 'In the souls of the people, the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.' This quote explains the whole book. It shows the people fighting for their lives from the many hardships they face. Also, it shows that there is ups and downs in life and sometimes facing the wrath that life gives us. The first hardship in the book is when the Joads are forced off their land. They have to overcome losing their home and basically their life. Also, the Joads can relate to many people because the bank took over their life. ?The bank is something more than,it?s the monster.? (33) This passage is very right because the bank takes over everything in everyone?s life. Next, the Joads had to become bigger than themselves. They had to drop their life and move to a different state. When they arrived in California they were not accepted for who they are. To them California is a whole new universe. They were taunted and called ?Okies.? But, even before that Grandma Joad died, leaving Mama Joad very depressed. Then being to poor to afford a funeral they had to just bury grandma in a random spot. The setting and time period would change the factor of the Joads life. First, if the Joads lived in this time period many of their hardships would be different. They wouldn?t have to live in a camp and the government would support them. When the Joads live in the camp they experience the better part of their journey, While at Camp Weedpatch they receive shelter and the essentials for every... ...he question of the book is when life gets hard stick through it and live as the best you can. The Joads answered the question. Life became hard for them and they stuck through it. At the very beginning they could have gave up but they didn?t. They had a plan and went through with it. That?s why the Joads are ro-models for the families struggling. Steinbeck?s quote ?My whole work drive has been aimed at making people understand each other.? This is also what the book is about. Understanding each other is the key to surviving. In conclusion, this book explains life itself. It shows life is not perfect and sometimes giving up everything is the way to survive. There is going to be hardships in life and there?s not. In the end, understand each other and never give up.

Michael Pintard

Michael C. Pintard distinctively writes his poems in an interpretive style. His style affects his readers by allowing them to contemplate on the true reason and meaning of the words, phrases and or expressions used in his poems. An example of his interpretive style is seen in one of his poems titled ? Steel Boot Action Whup?! , where as he uses his poetry skills and diction to generate phrases and made up vocabulary to emphasize his point on the matter. The tone detected in the poem ?Steel Boot Action Whup?! is an irated tone because the overview of the poem is that Michael Pintard is in an unhappy mood and wants to take physical action against whomever he sees a problem with. For example in lines 6 through 10 it is determined that he want to seek revenge on rapists who caused harm to others by kicking them in both of their heads. The action of kicking someone is repeated throughout the poem also to emphasize the title of the poem that relates to a steel boot that is a type of footwe ar.The irated tone of the poem creates a tense mood for the readers because Michael Pintard bluntly expresses his idea of taking physical actions against people or type of people mentioned in the poem. The way the sentences are structured in the poem also gives us an idea that Michael Pintard likes to emphasize his trains of thought, that can be seen in lines 4,5,39 and 40 where he detaches words such as ? senseless? and? into?. Overall, the message of the poem, seeking revenge is well received because of the choice of style and tone Mr. Pintard wrote the poem in and expressed his ideas.

The Importance Of The Cloning Of Dolly The Sheep - 1743 Words

The cloning of Dolly the sheep from a differentiated adult mammary epithelial cell was a crucial turning point for the revolution of science. It indicated that nuclear reprogramming can completely re-activate genes after being inactivated during tissue differentiation. There is enormous potential application in cloning by nuclear transfer using mammalian somatic cells However, somatic cloning used in producing live clones have resulted in defects and high fetal mortality rates. Therefore, the cloning of animals should be discontinued as it is unethical and inefficient. Livestock agriculture has applied a selection criteria in order to foster the propagation of animals with desirable traits and multiply copies of genetically elite farm†¦show more content†¦As can be seen in the diagram, the nucleus is removed by microaspiration, using a finely honed needle called a micropipette. Fusing the membranes that separate the ooplast and the donor nucleus must first be executed before the development process can occur. The fusion stage can be carried out through two separate processes, either by applying a brief electrical pulse, or through chemical fusion. Fusion by electrical stimulation is the more commonly used technique. It involves a mild electrical current being applied in one to several microbursts in the proximity of the cells. This results in the formation of pores between the somatic donor cell and ooplast which fuses the two cells into one. Embryonic development is also stimulated from the newly formed cell, resulting in the growth of blastocysts that are transplanted into surrogate mothers. Coordination of the cell cycle stage of the donor nucleus and the recipient egg cytoplasm are important in determining the successful development of embryos. When the developing clone reaches the blastocyst stage it is transferred into a surrogate mother in which the estrous cycle has been synchronised. The pregnancy is then allowed to proceed naturally after the embryo clones have been transferre d. Although there is relatively low success in animal cloning, with optimization it promises great advantages for commerce and research alike. Cloning animals for agriculturalShow MoreRelatedThe Belgian Blue Essay1568 Words   |  7 Pagespremature death. Cloning - Dolly the Sheep Dolly the sheep was a part of research in Roslin Institute as they were looking into producing medicines through milk of farm animals. They transfered useful proteins that was produced from human genes such as â€Å"the blood clotting agent factor IX to treat haemophilia or alpha-1-antitrypsin to treat cystic fibrosis and other lung conditions† (cloning dolly the sheep, 2016). 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Its just a matter of time before the first cloned [humans] (Virginia, Sirs). Although this practice does not seem dangerous, cloning should be banned because it takes away the individual importance of human beings, is too risky, and also morallyRead MoreAnalysis Of Frankenstein Or The Modern Prometheus 1388 Words   |  6 Pagesreaction. We also know that the frog legs moved because electricity plays a role in muscular contractions. o Giovanni Aldini’s Discovery †¢ Even though Aldini was Galvani’s nephew and a ferocious partisan of animal electricity, he understood the importance or Volta’s pile and respected it. †¢ Aldini s most prominent exhibition was in 1803 at a prison in London. In this exhibition, he inserted metal rods into the body holes of the mouth and ear of a corpse. The description of what happened next wasRead More The Opposition to Human Cloning: How Morality and Ethics Factor in2864 Words   |  12 PagesThe Opposition to Human Cloning: How Morality and Ethics Factor in If a random individual were asked twenty years ago if he/she believed that science could clone an animal, most would have given a weird look and responded, â€Å"Are you kidding me?† However, that once crazy idea has now become a reality, and with this reality, has come debate after debate about the ethics and morality of cloning. Yet technology has not stopped with just the cloning of animals, but now many scientists are contemplatingRead More The Moral Aspect of Cloning Essay1382 Words   |  6 PagesThe Moral Aspect of Cloning Cloning is not new; experiments with frogs and toads go back to the 1970’ with the experiments concerning animal and plant embryos have been preformed for many years. 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