Management Information Systems - Managing the Digital Firm 16th Edition 2020

568 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

FIGURE 15.1 APPLE IPHONE’S GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN
Apple designs the iPhone in the United States and relies on suppliers in the United
States, Germany, Italy, France, Japan, and South Korea for other parts. Much of the final
assembly occurs in China.

Germany

U.S. Italy/France South Korea

China Japan

depicts the major dimensions of an international information systems
architectue.

The basic strategy to follow when building an international system is to un-
derstand the global environment in which your firm is operating. This means
understanding the overall market forces, or business drivers, that are pushing
your industry toward global competition. A business driver is a force in the en-
vironment to which businesses must respond and that influences the direction
of the business. Likewise, examine carefully the inhibitors or negative factors
that create management challenges—factors that could scuttle the development

FIGURE 15.2 INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE
The major dimensions for developing an international information systems architecture
are the global environment, the corporate global strategies, the structure of the organi-
zation, the management and business processes, and the technology platform.

Global Environment:
Business Drivers and Challenges

Corporate Global Strategies

Organization Structure

Management and Business
Processes

Technology Platform

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 569

of a global business. Once you have examined the global environment, you will
need to consider a corporate strategy for competing in that environment. How
will your firm respond? You could ignore the global market and focus on do-
mestic competition only, sell to the globe from a domestic base, or organize pro-
duction and distribution around the globe. There are many in-between choices.

After you have developed a strategy, it is time to consider how to structure
your organization so it can pursue the strategy. How will you accomplish a divi-
sion of labor across a global environment? Where will production, administra-
tion, accounting, marketing, and human resource functions be located? Who
will handle the systems function?

Next, you must consider the management issues in implementing your strat-
egy and making the organization design come alive. Key here will be the design
of business processes. How can you discover and manage user requirements?
How can you induce change in local units to conform to international require-
ments? How can you reengineer on a global scale, and how can you coordinate
systems development?

The last issue to consider is the technology platform. Although changing
technology is a key driving factor leading toward global markets, you need to
have a corporate strategy and structure before you can rationally choose the
right technology.

After you have completed this process of reasoning, you will be well on your
way toward an appropriate international information systems portfolio capable
of achieving your corporate goals. Let’s begin by looking at the overall global
environment.

The Global Environment: Business Drivers and
Challenges

Table 15.1 lists the business drivers in the global environment that are leading
all industries toward global markets and competition.

The global business drivers can be divided into two groups: general cultural
factors and specific business factors. Easily recognized general cultural factors
have driven internationalization since World War II. Information, communi-
cation, and transportation technologies have created a global village in which
communication (by telephone, television, radio, or computer network) around
the globe is no more difficult than communication down the block. The cost of
moving goods and services to and from geographically dispersed locations has
fallen dramatically.

The development of global communications has created a global village in a
second sense: A global culture created by television, the Internet, and other
globally shared media such as movies now permits different cultures and

TABLE 15.1 T HE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT: BUSINESS DRIVERS AND
CHALLENGES

GENERAL CULTURAL FACTORS SPECIFIC BUSINESS FACTORS

Global communication and transportation Global markets
technologies
Global production and operations
Development of global culture Global coordination
Global workforce
Emergence of global social norms Global economies of scale

Political stability

Global knowledge base

570 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

peoples to develop common expectations about right and wrong, desirable and
undesirable, heroic and cowardly.

A last factor to consider is the growth of a global knowledge base. At the
end of World War II, knowledge, education, science, and industrial skills were
highly concentrated in North America, Western Europe, and Japan, with the
rest of the world euphemistically called the Third World. This is no longer true.
Latin America, China, southern Asia, and Eastern Europe have developed pow-
erful educational, industrial, and scientific centers, resulting in a much more
democratically and widely dispersed knowledge base.

These general cultural factors leading toward internationalization result in
specific business globalization factors that affect most industries. The growth
of powerful communications technologies and the emergence of world cultures
lay the groundwork for global markets—global consumers interested in consum-
ing similar products that are culturally approved. Coca-Cola, American sneak-
ers (made in Korea but designed in Los Angeles), and Cable News Network
(CNN) programming can now be sold in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

Responding to this demand, global production and operations have emerged
with precise online coordination between far-flung production facilities and cen-
tral headquarters thousands of miles away. At Maersk, a major global shipping
company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, shipping managers at Copenhagen
and other locations can watch the loading of ships in Rotterdam online, check
trim and ballast, and trace packages to specific ship locations as the activity pro-
ceeds. This is all possible through an international satellite link.

The new global markets and pressure toward global production and operation
have called forth whole new capabilities for global coordination. Production, ac-
counting, marketing and sales, human resources, and systems development (all
the major business functions) can be coordinated on a global scale.

Frito-Lay, for instance, can develop a marketing sales force automation sys-
tem in the United States and, once provided, may try the same techniques and
technologies in Spain. Micromarketing—marketing to very small geographic
and social units—no longer means marketing to neighborhoods in the United
States but to neighborhoods throughout the world! Internet-based marketing
means marketing to individuals and social networks across the globe. These
new levels of global coordination permit, for the first time in history, the loca-
tion of business activity according to comparative advantage. Design should be
located where it is best accomplished, as should marketing, production, and
finance.

Finally, global markets, production, and administration create the conditions
for powerful, sustained global economies of scale. Production driven by world-
wide global demand can be concentrated where it can best be accomplished,
fixed resources can be allocated over larger production runs, and production
runs in larger plants can be scheduled more efficiently and precisely estimated.
Lower-cost factors of production can be exploited wherever they emerge. The
result is a powerful strategic advantage to firms that can organize globally.
These general and specific business drivers have greatly enlarged world trade
and commerce.

Not all industries are similarly affected by these trends. Clearly, manufactur-
ing has been much more affected than services that still tend to be domestic
and highly inefficient. However, the localism of services is breaking down in
telecommunications, entertainment, transportation, finance, law, and general
business. Clearly, those firms that can understand the internationalization of
their own industry and respond appropriately will reap enormous gains in pro-
ductivity and stability.

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 571

TABLE 15.2 CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES TO GLOBAL BUSINESS SYSTEMS

GLOBAL SPECIFIC

Cultural particularism: Regionalism, nationalism, language Standards: Different Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), email,
differences telecommunications standards

Social expectations: Brand-name expectations, work hours Reliability: Phone networks not uniformly reliable

Political laws: Transborder data and privacy laws, commercial Speed: Different data transfer speeds, many slower than
regulations United States

Personnel: Shortages of skilled consultants

Business Challenges

Although the possibilities of globalization for business success are significant,
fundamental forces are operating to inhibit a global economy and to disrupt
international business. Table 15.2 lists the most common and powerful chal-
lenges to the development of global systems.

At a cultural level, particularism, making judgments and taking action on
the basis of narrow or personal characteristics, in all its forms (religious, na-
tionalistic, ethnic, regionalism, geopolitical position) rejects the very concept
of a shared global culture and rejects the penetration of domestic markets by
foreign goods and services. Differences among cultures produce differences
in social expectations, politics, and ultimately legal rules. In certain countries,
such as the United States, consumers expect domestic name-brand products
to be built domestically and are disappointed to learn that much of what they
thought of as domestically produced is in fact foreign made.

Different cultures produce different political regimes. Among the many dif-
ferent countries of the world are different laws governing the movement of
information, information privacy of their citizens, origins of software and hard-
ware in systems, and radio and satellite telecommunications. Even the hours of
business and the terms of business trade vary greatly across political cultures.
These different legal regimes complicate global business and must be consid-
ered when building global systems.

For instance, European countries have different laws concerning transborder
data flow and privacy from those in the United States. Transborder data flow
is defined as the movement of information across international boundaries in
any form. In 1998, the European Union adopted a Data Protection Directive
that broadened and standardized privacy protection in E.U. nations, and al-
lowed for the transfer of personal data to systems located in the United States
and other nations where these systems met European privacy standards. The
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect in May
2018, provides additional privacy protection for European citizens and applies
to all data produced by EU citizens, whether or not the company collecting the
data in question is located within the EU, as well as all people whose data is
stored within the EU, whether or not they are actually EU citizens. (Review the
discussion of GDPR in Chapter 4.)

Cultural and political differences profoundly affect organizations’ business
processes and applications of information technology. A host of specific barri-
ers arise from the general cultural differences, everything from different reli-
ability of phone networks to the shortage of skilled consultants.

National laws and traditions have created disparate accounting practices
in various countries, which affects the ways profits and losses are analyzed.
German companies generally do not recognize the profit from a venture until
the project is completely finished and they have been paid. Conversely, British

572 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

firms begin posting profits before a project is completed, when they are reason-
ably certain they will get the money.

These accounting practices are tightly intertwined with each country’s legal
system, business philosophy, and tax code. British, U.S., and Dutch firms share
a predominantly Anglo-Saxon outlook that separates tax calculations from re-
ports to shareholders to focus on showing shareholders how fast profits are
growing. Continental European accounting practices are less oriented toward
impressing investors, focusing rather on demonstrating compliance with strict
rules and minimizing tax liabilities. These diverging accounting practices make
it difficult for large international companies with units in different countries to
evaluate their performance.

Language remains a significant barrier. Although English has become a kind
of standard business language, this is truer at higher levels of companies and
not throughout the middle and lower ranks. Software may have to be built with
local language interfaces before a new information system can be successfully
implemented.

Currency fluctuations can play havoc with planning models and projections.
A product that appears profitable in Mexico or Japan may actually produce a
loss because of changes in foreign exchange rates.

These inhibiting factors must be taken into account when you are designing
and building international systems for your business. For example, companies
trying to implement “lean production” systems spanning national boundaries
typically underestimate the time, expense, and logistical difficulties of making
goods and information flow freely across different countries.

State of the Art

One might think, given the opportunities for achieving competitive advantages
as outlined previously and the interest in future applications, that most inter-
national companies have rationally developed marvelous international systems
architectures. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most companies have
inherited patchwork international systems from the distant past, often based
on outdated concepts of information processing, with reporting from indepen-
dent foreign divisions to corporate headquarters, manual entry of data from
one legacy system to another, and little online control and communication.
Corporations in this situation increasingly face powerful competitive challenges
in the marketplace from firms that have rationally designed truly international
systems. Still other companies have recently built technology platforms for in-
ternational systems but have nowhere to go because they lack global strategy.

As it turns out, there are significant difficulties in building appropriate in-
ternational architectures. The difficulties involve planning a system appropri-
ate to the firm’s global strategy, structuring the organization of systems and
business units, solving implementation issues, and choosing the right technical
platform. Let’s examine these problems in greater detail.

15-2 What are the alternative strategies

for developing global businesses?

Three organizational issues face corporations seeking a global position: ­choosing
a strategy, organizing the business, and organizing the systems management
area. The first two are closely connected, so we discuss them together.

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 573

TABLE 15.3 GLOBAL BUSINESS STRATEGY AND STRUCTURE

BUSINESS FUNCTION DOMESTIC EXPORTER MULTINATIONAL FRANCHISER TRANSNATIONAL

Production Centralized Dispersed Coordinated Coordinated
Finance/accounting Centralized Centralized Centralized Coordinated
Sales/marketing Mixed Dispersed Coordinated Coordinated
Human resources Centralized Centralized Coordinated Coordinated
Strategic management Centralized Centralized Centralized Coordinated

Global Strategies and Business Organization

Four main global strategies form the basis for global firms’ organizational
structure. These are domestic exporter, multinational, franchiser, and trans-
national. Each of these strategies is pursued with a specific business organi-
zational structure (see Table 15.3). For simplicity’s sake, we describe three
kinds of organizational structure or governance: centralized (in the home
country), decentralized (to local foreign units), and coordinated (all units
participate as equals). Other types of governance patterns can be observed
in specific companies (e.g., authoritarian dominance by one unit, a confed-
eracy of equals, a federal structure balancing power among strategic units,
and so forth).

The domestic exporter strategy is characterized by heavy centralization of
corporate activities in the home country of origin. Nearly all international com-
panies begin this way, and some move on to other forms. Production, finance/
accounting, sales/marketing, human resources, and strategic management are
set up to optimize resources in the home country. International sales are some-
times dispersed using agency agreements or subsidiaries, but even here, foreign
marketing relies on the domestic home base for marketing themes and strate-
gies. Caterpillar Corporation and other heavy capital-equipment manufacturers
fall into this category of firm.

The multinational strategy concentrates financial management and control
out of a central home base while decentralizing production, sales, and market-
ing operations to units in other countries. The products and services on sale in
different countries are adapted to suit local market conditions. The organiza-
tion becomes a far-flung confederation of production and marketing facilities in
different countries. Many financial service firms, along with a host of manufac-
turers, such as General Motors and Intel, fit this pattern.

Franchisers are an interesting mix of old and new. On the one hand, the
product is created, designed, financed, and initially produced in the home
country but for product-specific reasons must rely heavily on foreign person-
nel for further production, marketing, and human resources. Food franchisers
such as McDonald’s and KFC fit this pattern. McDonald’s created a new form of
fast-food chain in the United States and continues to rely largely on the United
States for inspiration of new products, strategic management, and financing.
Nevertheless, because the product must be produced locally—it is perishable—
extensive coordination and dispersal of production, local marketing, and local
recruitment of personnel are required.

Generally, foreign franchisees are clones of the mother country units, but
fully coordinated worldwide production that could optimize factors of produc-
tion is not possible. For instance, potatoes and beef can generally not be bought
where they are cheapest on world markets but must be produced reasonably
close to the area of consumption.

574 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

Transnational firms are the stateless, truly globally managed firms that may
represent a larger part of international business in the future. Transnational
firms have no single national headquarters but instead have many regional head-
quarters and perhaps a world headquarters. In a transnational strategy, nearly
all the value-adding activities are managed from a global perspective without
reference to national borders, optimizing sources of supply and demand wher-
ever they appear, and taking advantage of any local competitive advantages.
Transnational firms take the globe, not the home country, as their management
frame of reference. The governance of these firms has been likened to a federal
structure in which there is a strong central management core of decision mak-
ing but considerable dispersal of power and financial muscle throughout the
global divisions. Few companies have actually attained transnational status.

Information technology and improvements in global telecommunications
are giving international firms more flexibility to shape their global strategies.
Protectionism and a need to serve local markets better encourage companies
to disperse production facilities and at least become multinational. At the same
time, the drive to achieve economies of scale and take advantage of short-term
local advantage moves transnationals toward a global management perspective
and a concentration of power and authority. Hence, there are forces of decentral-
ization and dispersal as well as forces of centralization and global coordination.

Global Systems to Fit the Strategy

Information technology and improvements in global telecommunications are giv-
ing international firms more flexibility to shape their global strategies. The con-
figuration, management, and development of systems tend to follow the global
s­ trategy chosen. Figure 15.3 depicts the typical arrangements. By systems we mean
the full range of activities involved in building and operating information systems:
conception and alignment with the strategic business plan, systems development,
and ongoing operation and maintenance. For the sake of simplicity, we consider
four types of systems configuration. Centralized systems are those in which systems
development and operation occur totally at the domestic home base. Duplicated
systems are those in which development occurs at the home base but operations
are handed over to autonomous units in foreign locations. Decentralized systems
are those in which each foreign unit designs its own unique solutions and sys-
tems. Networked systems are those in which systems development and operations
occur in an integrated and coordinated fashion across all units.

FIGURE 15.3 GLOBAL STRATEGY AND SYSTEMS CONFIGURATIONS

The large X’s show the dominant patterns, and the small x’s show the emerging patterns.
For instance, domestic exporters rely predominantly on centralized systems, but there is
some development of decentralized systems in local marketing regions.

SYSTEM Strategy
CONFIGURATION
Domestic Multinational Franchiser Transnational
Centralized Exporter X
Duplicated X
Decentralized X XX
Networked
X X

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 575

As can be seen in Figure 15.3, domestic exporters tend to have highly cen-
tralized systems in which a single domestic systems development staff develops
worldwide applications. Multinationals offer a direct and striking contrast: Here,
foreign units devise their own systems solutions based on local needs with few
if any applications in common with headquarters (the exceptions being financial
reporting and some telecommunications applications). Franchisers have the sim-
plest systems structure: Like the products they sell, franchisers develop a single
system usually at the home base and then replicate it around the world. Each
unit, no matter where it is located, has identical applications. Last, the most am-
bitious form of systems development is found in transnational firms: Networked
systems are those in which there is a solid, singular global environment for devel-
oping and operating systems. This usually presupposes a powerful telecommu-
nications backbone, a culture of shared applications development, and a shared
management culture that crosses cultural barriers. The networked systems
structure is the most visible in financial services where the homogeneity of the
­product—money and money instruments—seems to overcome cultural barriers.

Reorganizing the Business

How should a firm organize itself for doing business on an international scale?
To develop a global company and information systems support structure, a firm
needs to follow these principles:

1. Organize value-adding activities along lines of comparative advantage. For
instance, marketing/sales functions should be located where they can best
be performed for least cost and maximum impact; likewise with production,
finance, human resources, and information systems.

2. Develop and operate systems units at each level of corporate activity—r­egional,
national, and international. To serve local needs, there should be host country
systems units of some magnitude. Regional systems units should handle telecom-
munications and systems development across national boundaries that take
place within major geographic regions (European, Asian, A­ merican). Transna-
tional systems units should be established to create the linkages across major
regional areas and coordinate the development and operation of international
telecommunications and systems development (Roche, 1992).

3. Establish at world headquarters a single office responsible for development
of international systems—a global chief information officer (CIO) position.

Many successful companies have devised organizational systems structures
along these principles. The success of these companies relies not only on the
proper organization of activities but also on a key ingredient—a management
team that can understand the risks and benefits of international systems and
that can devise strategies for overcoming the risks. We turn to these manage-
ment topics next.

15-3 What are the challenges posed by global

information systems and management
solutions for these challenges?

Table 15.4 lists the principal management problems posed by developing in-
ternational systems. It is interesting to note that these problems are the chief
difficulties managers experience in developing ordinary domestic systems as
well. But these are enormously complicated in the international environment.

576 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

A Typical Scenario: Disorganization on a Global Scale

Let’s look at a common scenario. A traditional multinational consumer-goods
company based in the United States and operating in Europe would like to ex-
pand into Asian markets and knows that it must develop a transnational s­ trategy
and a supportive information systems structure. Like most multinationals, it
has dispersed production and marketing to regional and national centers while
maintaining a world headquarters and strategic management in the United
States. Historically, it has allowed each of the subsidiary foreign divisions to
develop its own systems. The only centrally coordinated system is financial
controls and reporting. The central systems group in the United States focuses
only on domestic functions and production.

The result is a hodgepodge of hardware, software, and telecommunications.
The email systems between Europe and the United States are incompatible.
Each production facility uses a different manufacturing resources planning
system (or a different version of the same ERP system) and different market-
ing, sales, and human resource systems. Hardware and database platforms are
wildly different. Communications between different sites are poor, given the
high cost of European intercountry communications.

What do you recommend to the senior management leaders of this com-
pany, who now want to pursue a transnational strategy and develop an infor-
mation systems architecture to support a highly coordinated global systems
environment? Consider the problems you face by reexamining Table 15.4. The
foreign divisions will resist efforts to agree on common user requirements; they
have never thought about much other than their own units’ needs. The systems
groups in U.S. local sites, which have been enlarged recently and told to focus
on local needs, will not easily accept guidance from anyone recommending a
transnational strategy. It will be difficult to convince local managers anywhere
in the world that they should change their business procedures to align with
other units in the world, especially if this might interfere with their local per-
formance. After all, local managers are rewarded in this company for meeting
local objectives of their division or plant. Finally, it will be difficult to coordi-
nate development of projects around the world in the absence of a powerful
telecommunications network and, therefore, difficult to encourage local users
to take on ownership in the systems developed.

Global Systems Strategy

Figure 15.4 lays out the main dimensions of a solution. First, consider that
not all systems should be coordinated on a transnational basis; only some
core systems are truly worth sharing from a cost and feasibility point of view.
Core systems support functions that are absolutely critical to the organiza-
tion. Other systems should be partially coordinated because they share key

TABLE 15.4 M ANAGEMENT CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING GLOBAL
SYSTEMS

Agreeing on common user requirements

Introducing changes in business processes

Coordinating applications development

Coordinating software releases

Encouraging local users to support global systems

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 577

FIGURE 15.4 LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND GLOBAL SYSTEMS
Agency and other coordination costs increase as the firm moves from local option
­systems toward regional and global systems. However, transaction costs of participating
in global markets probably decrease as firms develop global systems. A sensible
­strategy is to reduce agency costs by developing only a few core global systems that are
vital for global operations, leaving other systems in the hands of regional and local units. 

Source: From Managing Information Technology in Multinational Corporations by Edward M. Roche, © 1992. Adapted by permission of
Prentice Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Local
Option
Systems

Regional
Coordi-
nated
Global Global Systems
Core Core
Business Systems
Processes

Regional
Business
Processes
Local
Business
Processes

Geographic Business Scope Business Systems Scope

elements, but they do not have to be totally common across national boundar-
ies. For such systems, a good deal of local variation is possible and desirable. A
final group of systems is peripheral, truly provincial, and needed to suit local
requirements only.

Define the Core Business Processes

How do you identify core systems? The first step is to define a short list of criti-
cal core business processes. Business processes are defined and described in
Chapter 2, which you should review. Briefly, business processes are sets of logi-
cally related tasks to produce specific business results, such as shipping out cor-
rect orders to customers or delivering innovative products to the market. Each
business process typically involves many functional areas, communicating and
coordinating work, information, and knowledge.

The way to identify these core business processes is to conduct a business
process analysis. How are customer orders taken, what happens to them once
they are taken, who fills the orders, and how are they shipped to the ­customers?
What about suppliers? Do they have access to manufacturing resource plan-
ning systems so that supply is automatic? You should be able to identify and
set priorities in a short list of 10 business processes that are absolutely critical
for the firm.

Next, can you identify centers of excellence for these processes? Is the cus-
tomer order fulfillment superior in the United States, manufacturing process
control superior in Germany, and human resources superior in Asia? You
should be able to identify some areas of the company, for some lines of busi-
ness, where a division or unit stands out in the performance of one or several
business functions.

When you understand the business processes of a firm, you can rank-o­ rder
them. You then can decide which processes should be core applications,

578 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

centrally coordinated, designed, and implemented around the globe and which
should be regional and local. At the same time, by identifying the critical busi-
ness processes, the really important ones, you have gone a long way to defining
a vision of the future that you should be working toward.

Identify the Core Systems to Coordinate Centrally

By identifying the critical core business processes, you begin to see opportuni-
ties for transnational systems. The second strategic step is to conquer the core
systems and define these systems as truly transnational. The financial and po-
litical costs of defining and implementing transnational systems are extremely
high. Therefore, keep the list to an absolute minimum, letting experience be
the guide and erring on the side of minimalism. By dividing off a small group of
systems as absolutely critical, you divide opposition to a transnational strategy.
At the same time, you can appease those who oppose the central worldwide
coordination implied by transnational systems by permitting peripheral sys-
tems development to progress unabated with the exception of some technical
platform requirements.

Choose an Approach: Incremental, Grand Design,
Evolutionary

A third step is to choose an approach. Avoid piecemeal approaches. These
surely will fail for lack of visibility, opposition from all who stand to lose from
transnational development, and lack of power to convince senior management
that the transnational systems are worth it. Likewise, avoid grand design ap-
proaches that try to do everything at once. These also tend to fail because of
an inability to focus resources. Nothing gets done properly, and opposition to
organizational change is needlessly strengthened because the effort requires
extraordinary resources. An alternative approach is to evolve transnational ap-
plications incrementally from existing applications with a precise and clear vi-
sion of the transnational capabilities the organization should have in five years.
This is sometimes referred to as the “salami strategy,” or one slice at a time.

Make the Benefits Clear

What is in it for the company? One of the worst situations to avoid is to build
global systems for the sake of building global systems. From the beginning,
it is crucial that senior management at headquarters and foreign division
managers clearly understand the benefits that will come to the company
as well as to individual units. Although each system offers unique bene-
fits to a particular budget, the overall contribution of global systems lies in
four areas.

Global systems—truly integrated, distributed, and transnational systems—
contribute to superior management and coordination. A simple price tag can-
not be put on the value of this contribution, and the benefit will not show up in
any capital budgeting model. It is the ability to switch suppliers on a moment’s
notice from one region to another in a crisis, the ability to move production in
response to natural disasters, and the ability to use excess capacity in one re-
gion to meet raging demand in another.

A second major contribution is vast improvement in production, operation,
and supply and distribution. Imagine a global value chain with global sup-
pliers and a global distribution network. For the first time, senior managers
can locate value-adding activities in regions where they are most economically
performed.

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 579

Third, global systems mean global customers and global marketing. Fixed
costs around the world can be amortized over a much larger customer base.
This will unleash new economies of scale at production facilities.

Last, global systems mean the ability to optimize the use of corporate funds
over a much larger capital base. This means, for instance, that capital in a sur-
plus region can be moved efficiently to expand production of capital-starved
regions; that cash can be managed more effectively within the company and
put to use more effectively.

These strategies will not by themselves create global systems. You will have
to implement what you strategize.

The Management Solution: Implementation

We now can reconsider how to handle the most vexing problems facing man-
agers developing the global information systems architectures that were de-
scribed in Table 15.4.

Agreeing on Common User Requirements

Establishing a short list of the core business processes and core support sys-
tems will begin a process of rational comparison across the many divisions of
the company, develop a common language for discussing the business, and
naturally lead to an understanding of common elements (as well as the unique
qualities that must remain local).

Introducing Changes in Business Processes

Your success as a change agent will depend on your legitimacy, your authority,
and your ability to involve users in the change design process. Legitimacy is
defined as the extent to which your authority is accepted on grounds of com-
petence, vision, or other qualities. The selection of a viable change strategy,
which we have defined as evolutionary but with a vision, should assist you in
convincing others that change is feasible and desirable. Involving people in
change, assuring them that change is in the best interests of the company and
their local units, is a key tactic.

Coordinating Applications Development

Choice of change strategy is critical for this problem. At the global level there is
far too much complexity to attempt a grand design strategy of change. It is far
easier to coordinate change by making small incremental steps toward a larger
vision. Imagine a five-year plan of action rather than a two-year plan of action,
and reduce the set of transnational systems to a bare minimum to reduce coor-
dination costs.

Coordinating Software Releases

Firms can institute procedures to ensure that all operating units convert to new
software updates at the same time so that everyone’s software is compatible.

Encouraging Local Users to Support Global Systems

The key to this problem is to involve users in the creation of the design
without giving up control over the development of the project to parochial
interests. The overall tactic for dealing with resistant local units in a transna-
tional company is cooptation. Cooptation is defined as bringing the opposi-
tion into the process of designing and implementing the solution w­ ithout
giving up control over the direction and nature of the change. As much

580 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

as possible, raw power should be avoided. Minimally, however, local units
must agree on a short list of transnational systems, and raw power may
be required to solidify the idea that transnational systems of some sort are
truly required.

How should cooptation proceed? Several alternatives are possible. One alter-
native is to permit each country unit the opportunity to develop one transna-
tional application first in its home territory and then throughout the world. In
this manner, each major country systems group is given a piece of the action
in developing a transnational system, and local units feel a sense of ownership
in the transnational effort. On the downside, this assumes the ability to develop
high-quality systems is widely distributed and that a German team, for example,
can successfully implement systems in France and Italy. This will not always be
the case.

A second tactic is to develop new transnational centers of excellence, or a
single center of excellence. There may be several centers around the globe that
focus on specific business processes. These centers draw heavily from local
national units, are based on multinational teams, and must report to world-
wide management. Centers of excellence perform the initial identification and
specification of business processes, define the information requirements, per-
form the business and systems analysis, and accomplish all design and testing.
Implementation, however, and pilot testing are rolled out to other parts of the
globe. Recruiting a wide range of local groups to transnational centers of excel-
lence helps send the message that all significant groups are involved in the
design and will have an influence.

Even with the proper organizational structure and appropriate management
choices, it is still possible to stumble over technology issues. Choices of technol-
ogy platforms, networks, hardware, and software are the final element in build-
ing transnational information systems architectures.

15-4 What are the issues and technical alternatives

to be considered when developing
international information systems?

Once firms have defined a global business model and systems strategy, they
must select hardware, software, and networking standards along with key
system applications to support global business processes. Hardware, soft-
ware, and networking pose special technical challenges in an international
setting.

One major challenge is finding some way to standardize a global computing
platform when there is so much variation from operating unit to operating unit
and from country to country. Another major challenge is finding specific soft-
ware applications that are user-friendly and that truly enhance the productivity
of international work teams. The universal acceptance of the Internet around
the globe has greatly reduced networking problems. But the mere presence of
the Internet does not guarantee that information will flow seamlessly through-
out the global organization because not all business units use the same appli-
cations, and the quality of Internet service can be highly variable (just as with
the telephone service). For instance, German business units may use an open
source collaboration tool to share documents and communicate, which is in-
compatible with American headquarters teams, which use Microsoft solutions.

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 581

Overcoming these challenges requires systems integration and connectivity on
a global basis.

Computing Platforms and Systems Integration

The development of a transnational information systems architecture based
on the concept of core systems raises questions about how the new core sys-
tems will fit in with the existing suite of applications developed around the
globe by different divisions and different people and for different kinds of
computing hardware. The goal is to develop global, distributed, and integrated
systems to support digital business processes spanning national boundaries.
Briefly, these are the same problems faced by any large domestic systems de-
velopment effort. However, the problems are magnified in an international
environment. Just imagine the challenge of integrating systems based on the
Windows, Linux, Unix, or proprietary operating systems running on IBM,
Oracle, HP, and other hardware in many different operating units in many dif-
ferent countries!

Moreover, having all sites use the same hardware and operating system does
not guarantee integration. Some central authority in the firm must establish data
standards as well as other technical standards with which sites are to comply.
For instance, technical accounting terms such as the beginning and end of the
fiscal year must be standardized (review the earlier discussion of the cultural
challenges to building global businesses) as well as the acceptable interfaces be-
tween systems, communication speeds and architectures, and network software.

Connectivity

Truly integrated global systems must have connectivity—the ability to link to-
gether the systems and people of a global firm into a single integrated network just
like the phone system but capable of voice, data, and image transmissions. The
Internet has provided an enormously powerful foundation for providing connectiv-
ity among the dispersed units of global firms. However, many issues remain. The
public Internet does not guarantee any level of service (even in the United States).
Few global corporations trust the security of the public Internet and generally
use private networks to communicate sensitive data and Internet virtual private
n­ etworks (VPNs) for communications that require less security. Not all countries
support even basic Internet service that requires obtaining reliable circuits, coor-
dinating among different carriers and the regional telecommunications authority,
and obtaining standard agreements for the level of telecommunications service
provided. Table 15.5 lists the major challenges posed by international networks.

TABLE 15.5 CHALLENGES OF INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS

Quality of service

Security

Costs and tariffs

Network management

Installation delays

Poor quality of international service

Regulatory constraints

Network capacity

582 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

FIGURE 15.5 INTERNET POPULATION IN SELECTED COUNTRIES
The percentage of the total population using the Internet in developing countries is
much smaller than in the United States and Europe, but it is growing rapidly.

Source: Based on data from Internetworldstats.com, 2017 and authors.

Global Internet Penetration100.0% % Internet Users
Rates80.0%
60.0%
Norway40.0%
U.S.A.20.0%
Brazil0.0%
China
Algeria
Honduras
Chad

Country

While private networks have guaranteed service levels and better security
than the Internet, the Internet is the primary foundation for global corporate
networks when lower security and service levels are acceptable. Companies
can create global intranets for internal communication or extranets to exchange
information more rapidly with business partners in their supply chains. They
can use the public Internet to create global networks using VPNs from Internet
service providers, which provide many features of a private network using the
public Internet (see Chapter 7). However, VPNs may not provide the same level
of quick and predictable response as private networks, especially during times
of the day when Internet traffic is very congested, and they may not be able to
support large numbers of remote users.

Access to Internet service is limited in many developing countries (see
Figure 15.5). Where an Internet infrastructure exists in less-developed coun-
tries, it often lacks bandwidth capacity and is unreliable in part due to power
grid issues. The purchasing power of most people in developing countries
makes access to Internet services very expensive in local currencies, although
inexpensive mobile devices and low-cost data plans are becoming more widely
available.

In addition, many countries monitor transmissions. Governments in China,
Iran, and Saudi Arabia monitor Internet traffic and block access to websites con-
sidered morally or politically offensive. On the other hand, the rate of growth
in the Internet population has been faster in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East
than in North America and Europe. Therefore, in the future, Internet connec-
tivity will be much more widely available and reliable in less-developed regions
of the world, and it will play a significant role in integrating these economies
with the world economy.

Software Localization

The development of core systems poses unique challenges for application
software: How will the old systems interface with the new? Entirely new in-
terfaces must be built and tested if old systems are kept in local areas (which
is ­common). These interfaces can be costly and messy to build. If new soft-
ware must be created, another challenge is to build software that can be

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 583

realistically used by multiple business units from different countries given
that business units are accustomed to their unique business processes and
definitions of data.

Aside from integrating the new with the old systems, there are problems of
human interface design and functionality of systems. For instance, to be truly
useful for enhancing productivity of a global workforce, software interfaces
must be easily understood and mastered quickly. When international systems
involve knowledge workers only, English may be the assumed international
standard. But as international systems penetrate deeper into management and
clerical groups, a common language may not be assumed and human interfaces
must be built to accommodate different languages and even conventions. The
entire process of converting software to operate in a second language is called
software localization.

Most of the world’s population accesses the Internet using a mobile device,
so apps must be built for mobile platforms, tiny screens, and low bandwidth.
Since many mobile Internet users cannot read or write, special interfaces using
video and audio need to be built to serve this group. The Interactive Session on
Technology addresses this issue.

What are the most important software applications? Many international
systems focus on basic transaction and management reporting systems.
Increasingly, firms are turning to supply chain management and enterprise
resource planning systems to standardize their business processes on a global
basis and to create coordinated global supply chains and workforces (see the
Interactive Session on Management). However, these cross-functional ­systems
are not always compatible with differences in languages, cultural h­ eritages,
and business processes in other countries. Company units in c­ ountries that
are not technically sophisticated may also encounter ­problems  trying to
manage the technical complexities of enterprise applications.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) systems and supply chain management
systems are widely used by manufacturing and distribution firms to connect
to suppliers on a global basis. Collaboration and enterprise social network-
ing systems, email, and videoconferencing are especially important world-
wide tools for knowledge- and data-based firms, such as advertising firms,
research-based firms in medicine and engineering, and graphics and publish-
ing firms.

15-5 How will MIS help my career?

Here is how Chapter 15 and this book can help you find a job as an entry-level
sales and marketing trainee for a global data services company.

The Company

Global Online Stats, a leading global provider of quantitative data, statistics,
and market research products, has an open position for an entry-level sales
and marketing trainee. The company has more than 500 employees and of-
fices in Boston, London, and Paris. The company provides tools and services
for accessing an online quantitative database aimed at business firms of all
sizes, including consulting firms, media agencies, and marketing ­departments
in large corporations from a variety of industries and countries.

584 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

INTERACTIVE SESSION  TECHNOLOGY

The Global Internet Goes Multimedia

Megh Singh is a porter in India’s New Delhi rail- in wealthy advanced countries such as the United
road station, earning less than $8 per day. From States and Germany as well as in poorer coun-
time to time throughout the day he can be found tries with low per capita income and Internet
under the station stairwell whispering into his penetration.
smartphone. Singh is using speech recognition
software to access the Internet using the station’s During the early years of the Internet, text
free Wi-Fi system. His smartphone is a no-frills used to be the only format with which comput-
Sony Corp. model with pared-down storage (4 ers could easily work. Today, with more powerful
gigabytes, compared to 32 gigabytes, which is and sophisticated hardware and software, com-
prevalent in developed countries). Singh’s smart- puters can decipher and manipulate multimedia.
phone has Google search Facebook’s What’s App For many people, including those who cannot
but Singh also uses apps, such as JC Browser, MX read and write, it has become much easier to
Player, and SHAREit, that have been explicitly ­communicate through images and sounds than
designed for slow connections and minimal data through text.
storage.
Only 400 million of India’s 1.3 billion people are
Most Indian porters still believe smartphones online, and the vast majority access the Internet
are only for the rich and literate, but a growing via a mobile device. Thanks to a price war and
minority have been using cheap smartphones to vendors’ efforts to court low-income users, these
go online since the railroad station started provid- numbers are rising. Vodafone India, a subsidiary
ing free Wi-Fi service in 2015. Singh likes to use of Vodafone PLC, found that new users didn’t
his smartphone to check train schedules, message understand data limits. It decided to offer a new
his family, and download movies. He arrives at option to buy as much data as they wanted at a
the station early each morning to send his family cost of less than 25 cents per hour. Facebook has
and friends recorded messages via WhatsApp. He sponsored free Wi-Fi hotspots across India, where
receives recorded replies from them throughout it has 200 million active users. Developers at the
the day. Singh also uses YouTube, Google, and MX company’s Menlo Park, California headquarters
Player to search the Internet for shows and clips. stage “2G Tuesdays” when they can experience
He uses voice search on YouTube, downloading how Facebook works on slow Internet connections.
20 clips per day to watch at night when he Facebook has built a lighter, less data-consuming
­returns to the room he shares with five other version for emerging markets as has LinkedIn.
porters. LinkedIn Lite is a less data-heavy app that works
on 2G phones and will help blue-collar workers
Singh is not comfortable reading or using a key- find jobs.
board. He doesn’t know anything about email or
how to send it. However, he claims he can enjoy the New companies are springing up to provide apps
Internet to its fullest by relying on video and voice. and services tailored to less-affluent, less-educated
Singh represents the new wave of new Internet users Internet users. The apps on Mr. Singh’s phone are
around the world. Instead of typing searches and a good example. UC Browser from Alibaba Holding
emails, the “next billion” Internet newcomers will be Group’s UCWeb is optimized to use less data for low-
primarily using voice activation and communicating speed connections. UC Browser accounts for over 40
with images. percent of India’s mobile browser market. Lenovo
Group’s SHAREit enables users to send files, photos,
Text is not disappearing entirely from the videos, and apps from one device to another using
Internet, and it still has its uses. But instead of direct Wi-Fi connections. YouTube apps created
typing searches and reading text-based web pages, for India make it easier to work with slow Internet
Internet users will be increasingly using audio speeds, save videos to watch offline, and monitor
and video. Influential communicators will rely their data use.
more and more on podcasts, Instagram, YouTube
videos, and apps such as HHQ Trivia. This is true Google changed the way certain searches from
India appear on the Internet. For example, if a user

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 585

is searching for a local cricket star, the top of the over 200 million users, far more than the number of
search will display videos and photos instead of long Indians owning credit cards.
text lists of links.
Sources: Farhad Manjoo, “Welcome to the Post-Text Future,” New York
In 2016 Indian banks launched a mobile pay- Times, February 14, 2018; www-shareit.com, accessed February 16,
ment system to help people who were not very 2018; Eric Ballman, “The End of Typing: The Next Billion Mobile
tech-literate use their phones to make payments and Users Will Rely on Voice and Video,” Wall Street Journal, August 7,
transfer money. The sign-up process was simplified. 2017; and Julia Love, “YouTube Unveils India Mobile App for Spotty
Paytm is the largest mobile money app in India, with Internet Signals,” Reuters, April 4, 2017.

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS 3. What kinds of companies are likely to benefit from
a more multimedia Internet? Explain.
1. Why are voice and video becoming the primary
means of communication over the Internet?

2. How will this trend impact companies trying to
do business worldwide? How will it affect the
way they run their businesses and interact with
customers?

Position Description

This position works closely with the Managing Director and Head of Global
Sales to develop and maintain sales leads and new accounts. Job responsibili-
ties include:

• Developing new accounts with leads generated by existing customers and
relationships with media and industry associations as well as through cold
calling, emailing, and online prospecting.

• Developing account relationships to turn sporadic customers into long-term
business accounts.

• Developing sales opportunities for various categories of products and lines of
business.

• Finding and scheduling appointments with new prospective clients.
• Updating customer and client profiles.

Job Requirements

• Four-year college degree
• Very strong verbal and written communication skills
• Microsoft Office skills
• Experience at a sales or marketing internship or in cold calling desirable
• Outgoing, competitive, proactive sales personality

Interview Questions

1. Did you work with quantitative data in your college courses or at a prior job?
What did you do with the data?

2. Have you ever worked with online databases or database software? Exactly
what did you do with these databases? Did you ever take a database course?

586 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

INTERACTIVE SESSION  MANAGEMENT

AbbVie Builds a Global Systems Infrastructure

AbbVie, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, is a global AbbVie business process teams hammered out
research-based biopharmaceutical ­company that standard definitions for end-to-end processes such as
was spun off from Abbott Laboratories in January procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, record-to-report, and
2013. As a separate entity, AbbVie is still a very large warehouse management. AbbVie made the template
company, with more than 29,000 ­employees in over usable globally by extending the functionality for
70 countries and 19 research and manufacturing multiple currencies and languages and updating it on
sites across the globe. In 2017, AbbVie produced a country-by-country basis depending on local regu-
$28.2 b­ illion in revenue. Humira for treating rheu- lations or legal requirements.
matoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease is among its top-
selling global products. Each time an affiliate requested a customiza-
tion, the AbbVie project team reviewed it against
When AbbVie separated from Abbott Laboratories, the list of local legal requirements it had collected.
the company had inherited 50 or 60 disparate legacy AbbVie then determined if the customization was
systems that were supporting mission-critical pro- required by other countries or was for only one, and
cesses in over 100 worldwide locations. The legacy it pushed back on one-of-a-kind requests. Testing
systems were supported by Abbott under a transi- and confirming with several affiliates helped ensure
tional services agreement (TSA) and were due to be that the template met the requirements of most
terminated at the end of 2015. AbbVie’s management countries, so the need for future customization was
had to make a choice: Should the company continue minimal.
to run these legacy systems on its own or should it
invest in a more up-to-date platform for supporting AbbVie tested the effectiveness of its global
business processes across all of its global affiliates template during development, capturing metrics
and manufacturing locations? around adoption—number of adoptions, adapta-
tions, additions, and abstentions. The project team
Complicating the decision were time pressures: compared the percentages of those metrics from
AbbVie had only until the end of 2015 (three years) country to country and reported the results to
to implement a solution and slightly over two years AbbVie’s business unit leaders. If, for instance, the
to establish an infrastructure stipulated by the TSA. metrics showed that Germany had adopted 82 per-
AbbVie decided to create standard business processes cent of the template and France 70 percent, busi-
for all its affiliates and manufacturing facilities and ness support could investigate to see if there was a
to support these processes with a single instance process that needed to be changed in France. This
of SAP ERP across the globe. The project was very was key to deploying the entire global instance of
ambitious: The new system had to be globally op- SAP ERP in 18 months.
erational in more than 150 countries within 3 years.
AbbVie designed a new operating model that in- The project team was also tasked with migrating
cluded many organizational changes, including busi- data from different legacy applications to the data
ness process outsourcing, centers of excellence, and structure for the global SAP ERP system. For each
regional shared services. stand-alone legacy system, the team extracted raw
data, stored them in a secure data warehouse, and
AbbVie didn’t waste any time. It selected IBM then identified any missing or inaccurate fields and
Global Business Services consultants to guide the other data cleansing requirements. While the team
global SAP deployment. Starting in August 2013, was consolidating and cleansing the data, it taught
AbbVie rolled out SAP ERP to 110 affiliates and business users about SAP-specific data fields, how
manufacturing sites within 18 months. The com- the fields were used, and how they changed previ-
pany standardized end-to-end processes using a ous business processes. The team would obtain data
global SAP template, and allowed the software to be from the business, put it in a data mapping template,
customized only for country-specific requirements. and load the data in various test environments. Once
These requirements were identified in advance by business users verified the accuracy of data, it would
teams creating local implementation guides. be ready to go live in production.

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 587

These activities facilitated change management by every country, measure results, find the root cause
placing a high value on both system transparency and of problems, and take corrective action more easily.
training. About six months before rolling out a new Reporting from the system is more accurate.
location, country-specific transition leaders would
train users on the template and familiarize them with AbbVie was able to pull off a major global system
any process changes. The transition leaders were liai- implementation because it was far-sighted and well
sons between AbbVie’s technology team and its busi- organized and did the difficult work of streamlining
ness process team, helping the company to quickly processes on a global scale at the project outset. The
address change management issues as they arose. global SAP project team questioned existing pro-
cesses and found it could streamline many of them,
AbbVie also took the time during implementa- making the enterprise much more agile. AbbVie’s
tion to verify it was in compliance with all local business efficiency also improved because correc-
data privacy regulations. In May 2015, the company tive actions often led to additional process improve-
completed the global rollout of SAP ERP. The com- ments. By looking at the metrics, the project team
pany was thus able to successfully standardize global can suggest measures to improve a process to get
processes and meet the TSA. Other major benefits of more out of the company’s investment. AbbVie can
the new global system were unprecedented levels of now operate as a single business across countries.
agility and transparency.
Sources: “AbbVie Builds a Global Pharmaceuticals Company on New
AbbVie now has a set of key metrics that are mea- Foundations with SAP and IBM,” https://www-01.ibm.com, ac-
sured at the end of every month, such as the length cessed January 6, 2018; Ken Murphy, “Biopharmaceutical Startup
of time to create new customers, vendor payments, AbbVie Receives Healthy Long-Term Prognosis,” SAP Insider Profiles,
payment terms, or order fulfillments. The global September 19, 2017; and www.abbvie.com, accessed January 6, 2018.
system features dashboards for managers to look at

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What management problems typical of global 3. How did AbbVie’s new SAP ERP system support
systems was AbbVie experiencing? What its global business strategy?
­management, organization, and technology factors
were responsible for those problems? 4. How did AbbVie’s new system improve operations
and management decision making?
2. What elements of the global systems strategy de-
scribed in this chapter did AbbVie pursue?

3. What is your level of expertise with Microsoft Office tools—Word, Excel,
­PowerPoint, Access?

4. What sales experience have you had?
5. Do you have any foreign language proficiency?
6. What challenges would you anticipate in trying to sell our products and

­services to non-U.S. organizations?

Author Tips

1. Review Sections 15-1, 15-3, and 15-4 of this chapter, Chapter 6 on data
­management, and the Chapter 12 discussion of business intelligence and
analytics.

2. Use the web to research the company, its products, services, and custom-
ers, and the way it operates. Think about what the company needs to do to
expand sales globally.

3. Ask exactly how you would be using Microsoft Office tools in your job.
4. Ask about how much training you would receive in how to use the

­company’s data products.

588 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

REVIEW SUMMARY

15-1 What major factors are driving the internationalization of business?

The growth of inexpensive international communication and transportation has created a world
culture with stable expectations or norms. Political stability and a growing global knowledge base that
is widely shared also contribute to the world culture. These general factors create the conditions for
global markets, global production, coordination, distribution, and global economies of scale.

15-2 What are the alternative strategies for developing global businesses?

There are four basic international strategies: domestic exporter, multinational, franchiser, and
transnational. In a transnational strategy, all factors of production are coordinated on a global scale.
However, the choice of strategy is a function of the type of business and product.

There is a connection between firm strategy and information systems design. Transnational firms
must develop networked system configurations and permit considerable decentralization of devel-
opment and operations. Franchisers almost always duplicate systems across many countries and use
centralized financial controls. Multinationals typically rely on decentralized independence among
foreign units with some movement toward development of networks. Domestic exporters typically
are centralized in domestic headquarters with some decentralized operations permitted.

15-3 What are the challenges posed by global information systems and management solutions for
these challenges?

Global information systems pose challenges because cultural, political, and language diversity
magnifies differences in organizational culture and business processes and encourages proliferation
of disparate local information systems that are difficult to integrate. Typically, international systems
have evolved without a conscious plan. The remedy is to define a small subset of core business pro-
cesses and focus on building systems to support these processes. Tactically, managers will have to co-
opt widely dispersed foreign units to participate in the development and operation of these systems,
being careful to maintain overall control.

15-4 What are the issues and technical alternatives to be considered when developing international
information systems?

Implementing a global system requires an implementation strategy that considers both busi-
ness design and technology platforms. The main hardware and telecommunications issues are
systems integration and connectivity. The choices for integration are to go either with a propri-
etary architecture or with open systems technology. Global networks are extremely difficult to
build and operate. Firms can build their own global networks or they can create global networks
based on the Internet (intranets or virtual private networks). The main software issues concern
building interfaces to existing systems and selecting applications that can work with multiple cul-
tural, language, and organizational frameworks.

Key Terms Legitimacy, 579
Multinational, 573
Business driver, 568 Particularism, 571
Cooptation, 579 Software localization, 583
Core systems, 576 Transborder data flow, 571
Domestic exporter, 573 Transnational, 574
Franchisers, 573
Global culture, 569
International information systems architecture, 567

MyLab MIS

To complete the problems with MyLab MIS, go to EOC Discussion Questions in MyLab MIS.

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 589

Review Questions 15-3 What are the challenges posed by global
information systems and management solutions
15-1 What major factors are driving the for these challenges? 
internationalization of business?  • List and describe the major management is-
sues in developing international systems.
• List and describe the five major dimensions • Identify and describe three principles to
for developing an international information follow when organizing the firm for global
systems architecture. business.
• Identify and describe three steps of a man-
• Describe the five general cultural factors agement strategy for developing and imple-
leading toward growth in global business menting global systems.
and the four specific business factors. • Define cooptation and explain how it can
Describe the interconnection among these be used in building global systems.
factors.
15-4 What are the issues and technical alternatives
• List and describe the major challenges to to be considered when developing international
the development of global systems. information systems? 
• Describe the main technical issues facing
• Explain why some firms have not planned global systems.
for the development of international • Identify some technologies that will help
systems. firms develop global systems.

15-2 What are the alternative strategies for
developing global businesses? 

• Describe the four main strategies for global
business and organizational structure.

• Describe the four different system configu-
rations that can be used to support different
global strategies.

Discussion Questions 15-6 Describe ways the Internet can be used in
MyLab MIS international information systems.
15-5 If you were a manager in a company that
MyLab MIS operates in many countries, what criteria

would you use to determine whether an
application should be developed as a global
application or as a local application?

Hands-On MIS Projects

The projects in this section give you hands-on experience conducting international market research, analyzing
international systems issues for an expanding business, and building a job posting database and web page for an
international company. Visit MyLab MIS to access this chapter’s Hands-on MIS Projects.

Management Decision Problems

15-7 United Parcel Service (UPS) has been expanding its package delivery and logistics services in China,
serving both multinational companies and local businesses. UPS drivers in China need to use UPS
systems and tools such as its handheld Delivery Information Acquisition Device for capturing package
delivery data. UPS wants to make its WorldShip and other shipping-management services accessible to
Chinese and multinational customers via the web. What are some of the international systems issues UPS
must consider in order to operate successfully in China?

15-8 Your company manufactures and sells tennis racquets and would like to start selling outside the United
States. You are in charge of developing a global web strategy, and the first countries you are thinking of
targeting are Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, and Japan. Using the statistics in the CIA World Factbook and
other online sources, which of these countries would you target first? What criteria did you use? What
other considerations should you address in your web strategy? What features would you put on your
website to attract buyers from the countries you target?

590 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

Achieving Operational Excellence: Building a Job Database and Web Page for an
International Consulting Firm

Software skills: Database and web page design
Business skills: Human resources internal job postings

15-9 Companies with many overseas locations need a way to inform employees about available job
openings in these locations. In this project you’ll use database software to design a database for posting
internal job openings and a web page for displaying this information.
KTP Consulting operates in various locations around the world. KTP specializes in designing, devel-

oping, and implementing enterprise systems for medium- to large-size companies. KTP offers its employees
opportunities to travel, live, and work in various locations throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. The
firm’s human resources department has a simple database that enables its staff to track job vacancies. When an
employee is interested in relocating, she or he contacts the human resources department for a list of KTP job
vacancies. KTP also posts its employment opportunities on the company website.

What type of data should be included in the KTP job vacancies database? What information should
not be included in this database? Based on your answers to these questions, build a job vacancies database for
KTP. Populate the database with at least 20 records. You should also build a simple web page that incorporates
job vacancy data from your newly created database. Submit a copy of the KTP database and web page to your
professor.

Improving Decision Making: Conducting International Marketing and Pricing Research

Software skills: Internet-based software
Business skills: International pricing and marketing

15-10 In this project you’ll use the web to research overseas distributors and customs regulations and use
Internet-based software to calculate prices in foreign currencies.
You are in charge of marketing for a U.S. manufacturer of furniture that has decided to enter the interna-

tional market. You want to test the market by contacting a European office furniture retailer to offer it a specific
desk that you have to sell at about $165. Using the web, locate the information needed to locate and contact this
firm and to find out how many euros you would get for the chair in the current market. In addition, consider us-
ing a universal currency converter website, which determines the value of one currency expressed in other cur-
rencies. Obtain both the information needed to contact the firm and the price of your chair in its local currency.
Then locate and obtain customs and legal restrictions on the products you will export from the United States and
import into the country of the retailer you have selected. Finally, locate a company that will represent you as a
customs agent and gather information on shipping costs.

Collaboration and Teamwork Project

Identifying Technologies for Global Business Strategies

15-11 With a group of students, identify an area of information technology and explore how this technology
might be useful for supporting global business strategies. For instance, you might choose email, smart-
phones, virtual private networks, enterprise systems, collaboration software, or the web. It will be nec-
essary to identify a business scenario to discuss the technology. You might choose an automobile parts
franchise or a clothing franchise, such as Express, as example businesses. Which applications would you
make global, which core business processes would you choose, and how would the technology be helpful?
If possible, use Google Docs and Google Drive or Google Sites to brainstorm, organize, and develop a pre-
sentation of your findings for the class.

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 591

E-Commerce in China: Opportunities and Obstacles

CASE STUDY

What’s the world’s largest and fastest-growing share of consumers appears to be taking advantage.
e-commerce market? It’s China, with over Cross-border shoppers appear to prefer items that are
800 million Internet users, and accounting either too expensive or too scarce domestically.
for over 50 percent of global retail e-commerce sales
(projected to be nearly 60% by 2021). China’s mobile The most popular categories of goods Chinese pur-
payment market is a whopping 11 times the size of chased online include apparel, food and beverages,
the U.S. market. The volume of online sales in China household products, consumer electronics, appli-
now exceeds that in the United States. E-commerce ances, and personal care products. Food, luxury, and
is predicted to account for 40.8 percent of all retail sports and wellness products are key categories for
sales in China by 2021. future growth. Chinese online shoppers tend to be
young, urban, and highly educated. They are much
Chinese e-commerce is very mobile: By the end more consumption-oriented than older generations,
of 2018, more than 75 percent of ecommerce sales in which were shaped as savers by different political
China—over $1 trillion worth—were transacted via a and economic circumstances. Younger shoppers are
mobile device. M-commerce accounted for 81.6 per- more willing to spend.
cent of Chinese e-commerce sales in 2017. Payment
for both online and in-store sales via mobile phone Social media is an important channel for initiat-
services such as WeChat is sweeping the country. ing online purchases. About 45 percent of Chinese
According to iResearch Consulting Group, a Chinese consumers use social media to discover new prod-
firm, mobile payments in China totaled $9 trillion in ucts, 54 percent to review and comment on products,
2016, compared to $112 billion in mobile payments and 25 percent to purchase directly through a social
that same year in the United States. China has also channel. Retailers and brands need to build and par-
become the world’s largest mobile-payment market. ticipate in social communities and engage with cus-
tomers on social platforms.
Tencent’s WeChat, with over 900 million active
users, is the dominant mobile platform in China. To some extent, e-commerce is replacing shopping
Retailers and brands have found that capturing the in physical marketplaces in China, and will comprise
consumer’s attention typically requires operating 42 percent of growth in private consumption by 2020,
within the WeChat environment on the WeChat plat- according to Boston Consulting and AliResearch.
form, as opposed to building a direct-to-consumer For this reason, superstores such as Walmart and
mobile app. Retailers such as Estee Lauder, Coach, Carrefour have shut down a number of stores.
and Gap run their loyalty programs within the
WeChat app, and conduct customer relationship It sounds like there are opportunities galore for
management (CRM) on the WeChat platform itself. global companies that want to sell into the Chinese
Max Factor built a new social CRM system on the e-commerce market. Not so easy. China may be the
WeChat platform. It created a detailed customer da- world’s largest and fastest-growing e-commerce mar-
tabase with 36 categories of tags using online and of- ket, but it is also one of the most difficult for foreign
fline data. Max Factor built now use real-time data to firms to penetrate. E-commerce in China is crowded
send personalized messages based on different stages and hyper-competitive, and the country is not en-
of the customer life cycle via the WeChat platform. tirely open for online business.

Credit cards never became widely used in China. First, there’s what’s called the Great Firewall of
Until recently, discretionary spending was not really China—a combination of legislation and technolo-
possible for many Chinese, and there has been a long- gies to regulate the Internet domestically in China.
standing cultural aversion to debt. On top of that, the China blocks access to select foreign websites (such
government made it difficult for companies such as as Google, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and the
Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. to set up shop. New York Times) and can slow down cross-border
Internet traffic. China limits access to foreign infor-
E-commerce has given China’s digital consum- mation sources, blocks foreign Internet tools such as
ers access to products from overseas, and a notable Google search and mobile apps), and requires foreign
companies to adapt to domestic regulations. A new

592 Part Four  Building and Managing Systems

cybersecurity law that went into effect in June 2017 It is possible to work with businesses that allow
requires security checks on foreign companies and Chinese consumers to purchase from international
forces firms to store key data in China. For example, brands, without the brand having to have a Chinese
Apple works with a local Chinese company to store presence. For example, Xiaoshongshu (Little Red
Chinese data from its iCloud service at a data center Book) features a mobile app that allows customers to
in southwest China. select products from key foreign markets and pay the
company for them. Xiaoshongshu then sources these
The Great Firewall has also impacted China’s inter- products for the customer.
nal Internet economy by nurturing domestic compa-
nies and reducing the appeal of products from ­foreign Some other points to keep in mind: Although
Internet companies. The Great Firewall ­fosters trade China heavily regulates the Internet, most Chinese
protectionism that has allowed China to grow its are not that interested in bypassing government
own Internet giants: Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu. filters to visit foreign websites such as Google or
Tencent is one of the world’s largest Internet and Facebook. China has an array of domestic websites
technology companies, as well as its largest and most to fill the void. Even when foreign websites aren’t
valuable gaming and social media company. It also blocked, Chinese competitors usually prevail because
owns the majority of China’s music services. Alibaba so many people are using their products that they
Group Holding is a multinational e-commerce, retail, become indispensable. Internet calling and messag-
Internet, AI, and technology ­conglomerate that pro- ing apps such as Skype and WhatsApp are accessible
vides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer, in China, but they’re often no substitute for Chinese
and business-to-business sales services via web por- products in the Chinese market. In China, Tencent’s
tals, as well as electronic payment services, shopping WeChat app is far more popular than Skype,
search engines, and data-centric cloud computing WhatsApp, and Slack.
services. Baidu provides Internet search services in
China and internationally along with transaction ser- Once a new technology or business model ap-
vices, such as Baidu Deliveries, Baidu Mobile Game, pears, the Chinese can quickly adapt it to the local
Baidu Wallet, and Baidu Maps. market. Oppo and Vivo, China’s first and third smart-
phone brands by market share in 2016, appeal to
China has its own version of many popular young people and residents in smaller, less-wealthy
foreign e-commerce businesses, such as weibo. cities. Their phones look like iPhones and have
com (Twitter), Youku Tudou (YouTube), WeChat many of the same features, but they cost less than
(Facebook), and Ctrip (Orbitz and others). Alibaba half the price of an iPhone. While Oppo and Vivo
has outmaneuvered eBay, and Uber had to sell have doubled their Chinese market share, Apple’s
its Chinese business to a local rival. The Internet has fallen by 13 percent to the fourth position.
behind the Great Firewall can be considered a
“parallel universe” to the Internet that exists out- To keep up with increasing demand from smaller
side. According to a report on Internet freedom urban and rural areas, online retailers are seeking
published by Freedom House, a U.S. pro-democracy to expand logistics infrastructure and services. For
group, China ranked last among the countries of example, Cainiao, the logistics arm of Alibaba, owns
the world for Internet openness. 180,000 express delivery stations for the shipment
of products and has recently expanded its fresh food
There are costs for gaining entry to the Chinese distribution centers across China. Logistics remains
market. Initial deposits can range from $8,000 to a major challenge as Chinese e-commerce play-
$25,000, annual service fees from $5,000–$10,000, ers attempt to reach more customers over wider
and commissions on sales revenue around 5%. Other geographic regions. China’s logistics system is far
costs can include being required to use approved from efficient, with insufficient warehouse space
agencies in the production of storefronts and sales and trucking routes throughout the country. China’s
information as well as guaranteed stock availability package-delivery business has been growing 30 per-
and stock location. Agency fees alone can run into cent annually, but that’s not fast enough to keep up
many thousands of dollars. Technical requirements with demand. The scarcity of high-quality logistics
of Chinese Internet filters can make operating dif- providers in China often burdens e-commerce firms
ficult, and may force firms to find alternatives to with late deliveries, damaged and lost parcels, slow
the services technology companies rely on outside collect-on-delivery (COD) processes, poor return pro-
China. cedures, and no special services such as installation

Chapter 15  Managing Global Systems 593

or the ability to try on purchases. These inefficien- Here,” Pricewaterhouse Coopers, 2017; McKinsey & Company,
cies add considerably to e-commerce operating costs “How Savvy Social Shoppers Are Transforming E-Commerce,”
and erode profit margins. McKinsey Digital, April 2016; and Alan Lau and Min Su, “China’s
E-commerce Soft Spot: Logistics,” McKinsey Quarterly, April 2016.

Sources: “Overview of China Ecommerce Market,” ecommerceworld- CASE STUDY QUESTIONS
wide.com, accessed February 1, 2018; Paul Mozur, “China Presses
Its Internet Censorship Issues Across the Globe,” New York Times, 15-12 Describe the political, cultural, and organi-
March 2, 2018; “China E-commerce Market (B2B, B2C, Mobile) in zational obstacles for foreign companies that
Q3 2017,” China Internet Watch, January 25, 2018; Corey McNair, want to do business online in China.
“Worldwide Retail and Ecommerce Sales,” eMarketer, January
2018; Paul Mozur and Carolyn Zhang, “In China, Silicon Valley 15-13 How do these factors impede companies from
Giants Confront New Walls,” New York Times, July 22, 2017; “Retail setting up e-commerce businesses in China?
Ecommerce Sales in China 2016–2021,” eMarketer, June 2017;
“New eMarketer Forecast Sees Mobile Driving Retail Ecommerce in 15-14 What would your company need to do to
China,” July 5, 2017; “eCommerce in China—the Future Is Already create a successful e-commerce presence in
China? Explain.

MyLab MIS

Go to the Assignments section of MyLab MIS to complete these writing exercises.

15-15 Identify and describe solutions to the five management challenges of developing global systems.
15-16 Identify and describe five problems of international networks that prevent companies from developing

effective global systems.

Chapter 15 References King, William R., and Vikram Sethi. “An Empirical Analysis of
the Organization of Transnational Information Systems.”
Accenture. “Technology Not Widely Used in Global Companies’ Journal of Management Information Systems 15, No. 4 (Spring
Emerging Market Supply Chains, Study Says.” (September 16, 1999).
2014).
Kirsch, Laurie J. “Deploying Common Systems Globally: The
Bisson, Peter, Elizabeth Stephenson, and S. Patrick Viguerie. “Glob- Dynamic of Control.” Information Systems Research 15, No. 4
al Forces: An Introduction.” McKinsey Quarterly (June 2010). (December 2004).

Burtch, Gordon, Anindya Ghose, and Sunil Watta. “Cultural Differ- Martinsons, Maris G. “ERP In China: One Package Two Profiles.”
ences and Geography as Determinants of Online Prosocial Communications of the ACM 47, No. 7 (July 2004).
Lending.” MIS Quarterly 38, No. 3 (September 2014).
Meyer, Erin. “When Culture Doesn’t Translate.” Harvard Business
Chakravorti, Bhaskar, Ajay Bhalla, and Ravi Shankar Chaturved. Review (October 2015).
“The 4 Dimensions of Digital Trust, Charted Across 42 Coun-
tries.” Harvard Business Review (February 19, 2018). McKinsey & Company. “Lions Go Digital: The Internet’s
T­ ransformative Potential in Africa.” (November 2013).
Davison, Robert. “Cultural Complications of ERP.” Communications
of the ACM 45, No. 7 (July 2002). Mouchawar, Ronaldo. “Souq.com’s CEO on Building an E-­
Commerce Powerhouse in the Middle East.” Harvard Business
Deans, Candace P., and Michael J. Kane. International Dimensions Review (September–October 2017).
of Information Systems and Technology. Boston, MA: PWS-Kent
(1992). Naím, Moises, and Philip Bennett. “The Anti-Information Age.”
The Atlantic (February 16, 2016).
Dewhurst, Martin, Jonathan Harris, and Suzanne Heywood. “The
Global Company’s Challenge.” McKinsey Quarterly (June 2012). Roche, Edward M. Managing Information Technology in Multina-
tional Corporations. New York: Macmillan (1992).
Ghislanzoni, Giancarlo, Risto Penttinen, and David Turnbull. “The
Multilocal Challenge: Managing Cross-Border Functions.” Su, Ning. “Cultural Sensemaking in Offshore Information
McKinsey Quarterly (March 2008). ­Technology Service Suppliers: A Cultural Frame Perspective.”
MIS Quarterly 39, No. 4 (December 2015).
Gulati, Ranjay. “GE’s Global Growth Experiment.” Harvard Busi-
ness Review (September–October 2017). The Guardian. “Internet Censorship Listed: How Does Each
C­ ountry Compare?” theguardian.com, accessed February 23,
Ives, Blake, and Sirkka Jarvenpaa. “Applications of Global Informa- 2018.
tion Technology: Key Issues for Management.” MIS Quarterly
15, No. 1 (March 1991). Tractinsky, Noam, and Sirkka L. Jarvenpaa. “Information Systems
Design Decisions in a Global Versus Domestic Context.” MIS
Ives, Blake, S. L. Jarvenpaa, and R. O. Mason. “Global Business Quarterly 19, No. 4 (December 1995).
Drivers: Aligning Information Technology to Global Business
Strategy.” IBM Systems Journal 32, No. 1 (1993).

INTEGRATING BUSINESS WITH TECHNOLOGY

By completing the projects in this text, students will be able to demonstrate business knowledge,
a­ pplication software proficiency, and Internet skills.These projects can be used by instructors as ­learning
assessment tools and by students as demonstrations of business, software, and problem-solving skills to
future employers. Here are some of the skills and competencies students using this text will be able to
demonstrate:

Business Application skills: Use of both business and software skills in real-world business applications.
Demonstrates both business knowledge and proficiency in spreadsheet, database, and web page/blog cre-
ation tools.

Internet skills: Ability to use Internet tools to access information, conduct research, or perform online
calculations and analysis.

Analytical, writing and presentation skills: Ability to research a specific topic, analyze a problem,
think creatively, suggest a solution, and prepare a clear written or oral presentation of the solution, working
either individually or with others in a group.

Business Application Skills

BUSINESS SKILLS SOFTWARE SKILLS CHAPTER
Finance and Accounting
Financial statement analysis Spreadsheet charts Chapter 2*
Spreadsheet formulas Chapter 10
Pricing hardware and software Spreadsheet downloading and formatting
Technology rent vs. buy decision Spreadsheet formulas Chapter 5
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis Spreadsheet formulas Chapter 5*
Analyzing telecommunications services and costs
Risk assessment Spreadsheet formulas Chapter 7
Retirement planning Spreadsheet charts and formulas Chapter 8
Capital budgeting Spreadsheet formulas and logical functions Chapter 11
Spreadsheet formulas Chapter 14
Chapter 14*
Human Resources Database design
Employee training and skills tracking Database querying and reporting Chapter 13*
Job posting database and Web page Database design Chapter 15
Web page design and creation
Manufacturing and Production Chapter 2
Analyzing supplier performance and pricing Spreadsheet date functions
Database functions Chapter 6
Inventory management Data filtering Chapter 12*
Bill of materials cost sensitivity analysis Importing data into a database
Sales and Marketing Database querying and reporting Chapter 1
Sales trend analysis Spreadsheet data tables Chapter 3
Customer reservation system Spreadsheet formulas

Database querying and reporting
Database querying and reporting

Improving marketing decisions Spreadsheet pivot tables Chapter 12
Customer profiling Database design Chapter 6*
Customer service analysis Database querying and reporting Chapter 9
Sales lead and customer analysis Database design Chapter 13
Blog creation and design Database querying and reporting Chapter 4
Database design
Database querying and reporting
Blog creation tool

Internet Skills

Using online software tools for job hunting and career development Chapter 1

Using online interactive mapping software to plan efficient transportation routes Chapter 2

Researching product information and evaluating websites for auto sales Chapter 3

Analyzing web browser privacy protection Chapter 4

Researching travel costs using online travel sites Chapter 5

Searching online databases for products and services Chapter 6

Using web search engines for business research Chapter 7

Researching and evaluating business outsourcing services Chapter 8

Researching and evaluating supply chain management services Chapter 9

Evaluating e-commerce hosting services Chapter 10

Using shopping bots to compare product price, features, and availability Chapter 11

Using online software tools for retirement planning Chapter 12

Analyzing website design and information requirements Chapter 13

Researching real estate prices Chapter 14

Researching international markets and pricing Chapter 15

Analytical, Writing and Presentation Skills* CHAPTER
Chapter 1
BUSINESS PROBLEM Chapter 3
Management analysis of a business
Value chain and competitive forces analysis Chapter 4
Business strategy formulation Chapter 7
Formulating a corporate privacy policy Chapter 8
Employee productivity analysis Chapter 9
Disaster recovery planning Chapter 10
Locating and evaluating suppliers Chapter 11
Developing an e-commerce strategy Chapter 15
Identifying knowledge management opportunities
Identifying international markets

*Dirt Bikes Running Case on MyLab MIS

GLOSSARY

3-D printing  Uses machines to make solid objects, layer by layer, ­environment whose elements are augmented by virtual
from specifications in a digital file. Also known as additive manu- ­computer-generated imagery.
facturing. authentication  The ability of each party in a transaction to ascertain
the identity of the other party.
3G networks  Cellular networks based on packet-switched technol- automation  Using the computer to speed up the performance of
ogy with speeds ranging from 144 Kbps for mobile users to more existing tasks.
than 2 Mbps for stationary users, enabling users to transmit backward chaining  A strategy for searching the rule base in an
video, graphics, and other rich media in addition to voice. expert system that acts like a problem solver by beginning with a
hypothesis and seeking out more information until the hypoth-
4G networks  Recent wireless communication technology capable esis is either proved or disproved.
of providing between 1 Mbps and 1 Gbps speeds; up to 10 times balanced scorecard method  Framework for operationalizing a
faster than 3G networks. firm’s strategic plan by focusing on measurable financial, busi-
ness process, customer, and learning and growth outcomes of
5G networks  Next wireless technology evolution, supporting firm performance.
transmission of huge amounts of data in the gigabit range, with bandwidth  The capacity of a communications channel as measured
fewer transmission delays and the ability to connect many more by the difference between the highest and lowest frequencies
devices (such as sensors and smart devices) at once than existing that can be transmitted by that channel.
cellular systems. behavioral models  Descriptions of management based on behav-
ioral scientists’ observations of what managers actually do in
acceptable use policy (AUP)  Defines acceptable uses of the firm’s their jobs.
information resources and computing equipment, including desk- behavioral targeting  Tracking the click-streams (history of clicking
top and laptop computers, wireless devices, telephones, and the behavior) of individuals across multiple websites for the purpose of
Internet, and specifies consequences for noncompliance. understanding their interests and intentions, and exposing them to
advertisements that are uniquely suited to their interests.
acceptance testing  Provides the final certification that the system is benchmarking  Setting strict standards for products, services, or ac-
ready to be used in a production setting. tivities and measuring organizational performance against those
standards.
accountability  The mechanisms for assessing responsibility for best practices  The most successful solutions or problem-solving
decisions made and actions taken. methods that have been developed by a specific organization or
industry.
advertising revenue model  Website generating revenue by attract- big data  Data sets with volumes so huge that they are beyond the
ing a large audience. ability of typical relational DBMS to capture, store, and analyze.
The data are often unstructured or semi-structured.
affiliate revenue model  An e-commerce revenue model in which biometric authentication  Technology for authenticating system
websites are paid as “affiliates” for sending their visitors to other users that compares a person’s unique characteristics such as
sites in return for a referral fee. fingerprints, face, or retinal image against a stored set profile of
these characteristics.
agency theory  Economic theory that views the firm as a nexus of bit  A binary digit representing the smallest unit of data in a comput-
contracts among self-interested individuals who must be super- er system. It can only have one of two states, representing 0 or 1.
vised and managed. blockchain  Distributed ledger system that stores permanent and
tamper-proof records of transactions and shares them among a
agent-based modeling  Modeling complex phenomena as systems distributed network of computers.
of autonomous agents that follow relatively simple rules for blog  Popular term for “weblog,” designating an informal yet struc-
interaction. tured website where individuals can publish stories, opinions,
and links to other websites of interest.
agile development  Rapid delivery of working software by breaking a blogosphere  Totality of blog-related websites.
large project into a series of small sub-projects that are completed Bluetooth  Standard for wireless personal area networks that can
in short periods of time using iteration and continuous feedback. transmit up to 722 Kbps within a 10-meter area.
botnet  A group of computers that have been infected with bot
analytic platform  Preconfigured hardware-software system that is malware without users’ knowledge, enabling a hacker to use the
specifically designed for high-speed analysis of large datasets. amassed resources of the computers to launch distributed denial-
of-service attacks, phishing campaigns, or spam.
analytical CRM  Customer relationship management applications broadband  High-speed transmission technology. Also designates a
dealing with the analysis of customer data to provide information single communications medium that can transmit multiple chan-
for improving business performance. nels of data simultaneously.
bugs  Software program code defects.
Android  A mobile operating system developed by Android, Inc. bullwhip effect  Distortion of information about the demand for a
(purchased by Google) and later the Open Handset Alliance as a product as it passes from one entity to the next across the supply
flexible, upgradeable mobile device platform. chain.
business continuity planning  Planning that focuses on how the
anti-malware software  Software designed to detect, and often elimi- company can restore business operations after a disaster strikes.
nate, malware from an information system.

application controls  Specific controls unique to each computerized
application that ensure that only authorized data are completely
and accurately processed by that application.

application server  Software that handles all application operations
between browser-based computers and a company’s back-end
business applications or databases.

apps  Small pieces of software that run on the Internet, on your
computer, or on your cell phone and are generally delivered over
the Internet.

artificial intelligence (AI)  Effort to develop computer-based sys-
tems that can think and behave like humans.

attribute  A piece of information describing a particular entity.
augmented reality (AR)  A technology for enhancing visualization.

Provides a live direct or indirect view of a physical ­real-world

G-1

Glossary G-2

business driver  A force in the environment to which businesses churn rate  Measurement of the number of customers who stop us-
must respond and that influences the direction of business. ing or purchasing products or services from a company. Used as
an indicator of the growth or decline of a firm’s customer base.
business ecosystem  Loosely coupled but interdependent networks
of suppliers, distributors, outsourcing firms, transportation ser- classical model of management  Traditional description of manage-
vice firms, and technology manufacturers. ment that focused on its formal functions of planning, organizing,
coordinating, deciding, and controlling.
business functions  Specialized tasks performed in a business
organization, including manufacturing and production, sales and click fraud  Fraudulently clicking on an online ad in pay per click
marketing, finance and accounting, and human resources. advertising to generate an improper charge per click.

business intelligence  Applications and technologies to help users client  The user point-of-entry for the required function in client/
make better business decisions. server computing. Normally a desktop computer, workstation, or
laptop computer.
business model  An abstraction of what an enterprise is and how
the enterprise delivers a product or service, showing how the client/server computing  A model for computing that splits process-
enterprise creates wealth. ing between clients and servers on a network, assigning functions
to the machine most able to perform the function.
business performance management (BPM)  Attempts to system-
atically translate a firm’s strategies (e.g., differentiation, low-cost cloud computing  Model of computing in which computer process-
producer, market share growth, and scope of operation) into ing, storage, software, and other services are provided as a shared
operational targets. pool of virtualized resources over a network, primarily the
Internet.
business process management (BPM)  An approach to b­ usiness
that aims to continuously improve and manage business collaboration  Working with others to achieve shared and explicit
p­ rocesses. goals.

business process redesign  Type of organizational change in which communities of practice (COPs)  Informal social networks of
business processes are analyzed, simplified, and redesigned. professionals and employees within and outside the firm who
have similar work-related activities and interests and share their
business processes  The unique ways in which organizations coordi- knowledge.
nate and organize work activities, information, and knowledge to
produce a product or service. community provider  A website business model that creates a
digital online environment where people with similar interests
business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce  Electronic sales can transact (buy and sell goods); share interests, photos, videos;
of goods and services among businesses. communicate with like-minded people; receive interest-related
information; and even play out fantasies by adopting online per-
business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic commerce  Electronic sonalities called avatars.
r­ etailing of products and services directly to individual
­consumers. competitive forces model  Model used to describe the interaction
of external influences, specifically threats and opportunities, that
BYOD  Stands for “bring your own device,” and refers to employees affect an organization’s strategy and ability to compete.
using their own computing devices in the workplace.
complementary assets  Additional assets required to derive value
byte  A string of bits, usually eight, used to store one number or char- from a primary investment.
acter in a computer system.
component-based development  Building large software systems by
cable Internet connections  Internet connections that use digital combining preexisting software components.
cable lines to deliver high-speed Internet access to homes and
businesses. computer abuse  The commission of acts involving a computer that
may not be illegal but are considered unethical.
capital budgeting  The process of analyzing and selecting various
proposals for capital expenditures. computer crime  The commission of illegal acts through the use of a
computer or against a computer system.
carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)  Type of RSI in which pressure on
the median nerve through the wrist’s bony carpal tunnel struc- computer forensics  The scientific collection, examination, authen-
ture produces pain. tication, preservation, and analysis of data held on or retrieved
from computer storage media in such a way that the information
change agent  In the context of implementation, the individual act- can be used as evidence in a court of law.
ing as the catalyst during the change process to ensure successful
organizational adaptation to a new system or innovation. computer hardware  Physical equipment used for input, processing,
and output activities in an information system.
change management  Managing the impact of organizational
change associated with an innovation, such as a new informa- computer literacy  Knowledge about information technology, focus-
tion system. ing on understanding of how computer-based technologies work.

chat  Live, interactive conversations over a public network. computer software  Detailed, preprogrammed instructions that con-
chatbot  Software agent designed to simulate a conversation with one trol and coordinate the work of computer hardware components
in an information system.
or more human users via textual or auditory methods.
chief data officer (CDO)  Responsible for enterprise-wide gover- computer virus  Rogue software program that attaches itself to other
software programs or data files in order to be executed, often
nance and utilization of information to maximize the value the causing hardware and software malfunctions.
organization can realize from its data.
chief information officer (CIO)  Senior manager in charge of the computer vision syndrome (CVS)  Eyestrain condition related
information systems function in the firm. to computer display screen use; symptoms include headaches,
chief knowledge officer (CKO)  Senior executive in charge of the blurred vision, and dry and irritated eyes.
organization’s knowledge management program.
chief privacy officer (CPO)  Responsible for ensuring the company computer vision systems  Systems that try to emulate the human
complies with existing data privacy laws. visual system to view and extract information from real-world
chief security officer (CSO)  Heads a formal security function images.
for the organization and is responsible for enforcing the firm’s
security policy. computer-aided design (CAD)  Information system that automates
choice  Simon’s third stage of decision making, when the individual the creation and revision of designs using sophisticated graphics
selects among the various solution alternatives. software.
Chrome OS  Google’s lightweight computer operating system for
users who do most of their computing on the Internet; runs on computer-aided software engineering (CASE)  Automation of
computers ranging from netbooks to desktop computers. step-by-step methodologies for software and systems develop-
ment to reduce the amounts of repetitive work the developer
needs to do.

G-3 Glossary data dictionary  An automated or manual tool for storing and orga-
nizing information about the data maintained in a database.
consumer-to-consumer (C2C)  Consumers selling goods and ser-
vices electronically to other consumers. data element  A field.
data flow diagram (DFD)  Primary tool for structured analysis that
consumerization of IT  New information technology originating in
the consumer market that spreads to business organizations. graphically illustrates a system’s component process and the flow
of data between them.
controls  All of the methods, policies, and procedures that ensure data governance  Policies and processes for managing the availabil-
protection of the organization’s assets, accuracy and reliability of ity, usability, integrity, and security of the firm’s data.
its records, and operational adherence to management standards. data inconsistency  The presence of different values for same attri-
bute when the same data are stored in multiple locations.
conversion  The process of changing from the old system to the new data lake  Repository for raw unstructured data or structured data
system. that for the most part have not yet been analyzed.
data management technology  Software governing the organization
cookies  Tiny file deposited on a computer hard drive when an of data on physical storage media.
individual visits certain websites. Used to identify the visitor and data manipulation language  A language associated with a database
track visits to the website. management system that end users and programmers use to
manipulate data in the database.
cooptation  Bringing the opposition into the process of designing and data mart  A small data warehouse containing only a portion of the
implementing a solution without giving up control of the direc- organization’s data for a specified function or population of users.
tion and nature of the change. data mining  Analysis of large pools of data to find patterns and rules
that can be used to guide decision making and predict future
copyright  A statutory grant that protects creators of intellectual behavior.
property against copying by others for any purpose for a mini- data quality audit  A survey and/or sample of files to determine ac-
mum of 70 years. curacy and completeness of data in an information system.
data redundancy  The presence of duplicate data in multiple data
core competency  Activity at which a firm excels as a world-class files.
leader. data visualization  Technology for helping users see patterns and
relationships in large amounts of data by presenting the data in
core systems  Systems that support functions that are absolutely graphical form.
critical to the organization. data warehouse  A database, with reporting and query tools, that stores
current and historical data extracted from various operational sys-
cost transparency  The ability of consumers to discover the actual tems and consolidated for management reporting and analysis.
costs merchants pay for products. data workers  People such as secretaries or bookkeepers who process
the organization’s paperwork.
counterimplementation  A deliberate strategy to thwart the database  A group of related files.
implementation of an information system or an innovation in an database (rigorous definition)  A collection of data organized to
organization. service many applications at the same time by storing and man-
aging data so that they appear to be in one location.
cross-selling  Marketing complementary products to customers. database administration  Refers to the more technical and opera-
crowdsourcing  Using large Internet audiences for advice, market tional aspects of managing data, including physical database
design and maintenance.
feedback, new ideas, and solutions to business problems. Related database management system (DBMS)  Special software to create
to the “wisdom of crowds” theory. and maintain a database and enable individual business applica-
culture  The set of fundamental assumptions about what products tions to extract the data they need without having to create sepa-
the organization should produce, how and where it should pro- rate files or data definitions in their computer programs.
duce them, and for whom they should be produced. database server  A computer in a client/server environment that is
customer lifetime value (CLTV)  Difference between revenues responsible for running a DBMS to process SQL statements and
produced by a specific customer and the expenses for acquiring perform database management tasks.
and servicing that customer minus the cost of promotional mar- decisional roles  Mintzberg’s classification for managerial roles
keting over the lifetime of the customer relationship, expressed where managers initiate activities, handle disturbances, allocate
in today’s dollars. resources, and negotiate conflicts.
customer relationship management (CRM)  Business and technol- decision-support systems (DSS)  Information systems at the orga-
ogy discipline that uses information systems to coordinate all of nization’s management level that combine data and sophisticated
the business processes surrounding the firm’s interactions with analytical models or data analysis tools to support semi-structured
its customers in sales, marketing, and service. and unstructured decision making.
customer relationship management systems  Information systems “deep learning”  Using multiple layers of neural networks to reveal
that track all the ways in which a company interacts with its the underlying patterns in data, and in some limited cases iden-
customers and analyze these interactions to optimize revenue, tify patterns without human training.
profitability, customer satisfaction, and customer retention. deep packet inspection (DPI)  Technology for managing network
customization  The modification of a software package to meet an traffic by examining data packets, sorting out low-priority data
organization’s unique requirements without destroying the pack- from higher priority business-critical data, and sending packets in
age software’s integrity. order of priority.
customization  In e-commerce, changing a delivered product or demand planning  Determining how much product a business needs
service based on a user’s preferences or prior behavior. to make to satisfy all its customers’ demands.
cybervandalism  Intentional disruption, defacement, or destruction denial-of-service (DoS) attack  Flooding a network server or web
of a website or corporate information system. server with false communications or requests for services in
cyberwarfare  State-sponsored activity designed to cripple and defeat order to crash the network.
another state or nation by damaging or disrupting its computers design  Simon’s second stage of decision making, when the individual
or networks. conceives of possible alternative solutions to a problem.
data  Streams of raw facts representing events occurring in organiza-
tions or the physical environment before they have been organized
and arranged into a form that people can understand and use.
data administration  A special organizational function for managing
the organization’s data resources, concerned with information
policy, data planning, maintenance of data dictionaries, and data
quality standards.
data cleansing  Activities for detecting and correcting data in a data-
base or file that are incorrect, incomplete, improperly formatted,
or redundant. Also known as data scrubbing.
data definition  DBMS capability that specifies the structure and
content of the database.

Glossary G-4

DevOps  Organizational strategy to create a culture and environment edge computing  Method of optimizing cloud computing systems by
to promote rapid and agile development practices by emphasiz- performing some data processing on a set of linked servers at the
ing close collaboration between software developers and the IT edge of the network, near the source of the data.
operational staff.
efficient customer response system  System that directly links
digital asset management systems  Classify, store, and distribute consumer behavior back to distribution, production, and supply
digital objects such as photographs, graphic images, video, and chains.
audio content.
electronic business (e-business)  The use of the Internet and digi-
digital certificate  An attachment to an electronic message to verify tal technology to execute all the business processes in the enter-
the identity of the sender and to provide the receiver with the prise. Includes e-commerce as well as processes for the internal
means to encode a reply. management of the firm and for coordination with suppliers and
other business partners.
digital dashboard  Displays all of a firm’s key performance indica-
tors as graphs and charts on a single screen to provide one-page electronic commerce (e-commerce)  The process of buying and
overview of all the critical measurements necessary to make key selling goods and services electronically involving transactions
executive decisions. using the Internet, networks, and other digital technologies.

digital divide  Large disparities in access to computers and the Inter- electronic data interchange (EDI)  The direct computer-to-computer
net among different social groups and different locations. exchange between two organizations of standard business transac-
tions, such as orders, shipment instructions, or payments.
digital firm  Organization where nearly all significant business
p­ rocesses and relationships with customers, suppliers, and email  The computer-to-computer exchange of messages.
employees are digitally enabled, and key corporate assets are employee relationship management (ERM)  Software dealing with
managed through digital means.
employee issues that are closely related to CRM, such as setting
digital goods  Goods that can be delivered over a digital network. objectives, employee performance management, performance-
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)  Adjusts copyright based compensation, and employee training.
encryption  The coding and scrambling of messages to prevent their
laws to the Internet Age by making it illegal to make, distribute, being read or accessed without authorization.
or use devices that circumvent technology-based protections of end-user development  The development of information systems
copyrighted materials. by end users with little or no formal assistance from technical
digital subscriber line (DSL)  A group of technologies providing specialists.
high-capacity transmission over existing copper telephone lines. end-user interface  The part of an information system through
direct cutover strategy  A risky conversion approach where the new which the end user interacts with the system, such as online
system completely replaces the old one on an appointed day. screens and commands.
direct goods  Goods used in a production process. end users  Representatives of departments outside the information
disaster recovery planning  Planning for the restoration of systems group for whom applications are developed.
computing and communications services after they have been enterprise applications  Systems that can coordinate activities,
disrupted. d­ ecisions, and knowledge across many different functions,
disintermediation  The removal of organizations or business levels, and business units in a firm. Include enterprise
process layers responsible for certain intermediary steps in a systems, supply chain management systems, and knowledge
value chain. management systems.
disruptive technologies  Technologies with disruptive impact on enterprise content management (ECM)  Help organizations
industries and businesses, rendering existing products, services, manage structured and semi-structured knowledge, providing
and business models obsolete. corporate repositories of documents, reports, presentations, and
distributed database  Database stored in multiple physical locations. best practices and capabilities for collecting and organizing email
distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack  Numerous computers and graphic objects.
inundating and overwhelming a network from numerous launch enterprise software  Set of integrated modules for applications
points. such as sales and distribution, financial accounting, investment
documentation  Descriptions of how an information system works management, materials management, production planning, plant
from either a technical or end-user standpoint. maintenance, and human resources that allow data to be used by
domain name  English-like name that corresponds to the unique multiple functions and business processes.
32-bit numeric Internet Protocol (IP) address for each computer enterprise systems  Integrated enterprise-wide information systems
connected to the Internet. that coordinate key internal processes of the firm.
Domain Name System (DNS)  A hierarchical system of servers enterprise-wide knowledge management systems  General-­
maintaining a database enabling the conversion of domain names purpose, firmwide systems that collect, store, distribute, and
to their numeric IP addresses. apply digital content and knowledge.
domestic exporter  Form of business organization characterized by entity  A person, place, thing, or event about which information must
heavy centralization of corporate activities in the home county be kept.
of origin. entity-relationship diagram  A methodology for documenting
downtime  Period of time in which an information system is not databases illustrating the relationship between various entities in
operational. the database.
drill down  The ability to move from summary data to lower and ergonomics  The interaction of people and machines in the work
lower levels of detail. environment, including the design of jobs, health issues, and the
drive-by download  Malware that comes with a downloaded file a end-user interface of information systems.
user intentionally or unintentionally requests. e-tailer  Online retail stores from the giant Amazon to tiny local
due process  A process in which laws are well-known and understood stores that have websites where retail goods are sold.
and there is an ability to appeal to higher authorities to ensure ethical no-free-lunch rule  Assumption that all tangible and intangi-
that laws are applied correctly. ble objects are owned by someone else, unless there is a specific
dynamic pricing  Pricing of items based on real-time interactions declaration otherwise, and that the creator wants compensation
between buyers and sellers that determine what a item is worth for this work.
at any particular moment. ethics  Principles of right and wrong that can be used by individu-
e-government  Use of the Internet and related technologies to digi- als acting as free moral agents to make choices to guide their
tally enable government and public sector agencies’ relationships behavior.
with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government.

G-5 Glossary genetic algorithms  Problem-solving methods that promote the evo-
lution of solutions to specified problems using the model of living
evil twins  Wireless networks that pretend to be legitimate to entice organisms adapting to their environment.
participants to log on and reveal passwords or credit card num-
bers. geoadvertising services  Delivering ads to users based on their GPS
location.
exchange  Third-party Net marketplace that is primarily transaction
oriented and that connects many buyers and suppliers for spot geographic information system (GIS)  System with software that
purchasing. can analyze and display data using digitized maps to enhance
planning and decision-making.
executive support systems (ESS)  Information systems at
the o­ rganization’s strategic level designed to address un- geoinformation services  Information on local places and things
structured ­decision making through advanced graphics and based on the GPS position of the user.
­communications.
geosocial services  Social networking based on the GPS location of
expert system  Knowledge-intensive computer program that users.
c­ aptures the expertise of a human in limited domains of
­knowledge. global culture  The development of common expectations, shared
artifacts, and social norms among different cultures and peoples.
explicit knowledge  Knowledge that has been documented.
external integration tools  Project management technique that Golden Rule  Putting oneself in the place of others as the object of a
decision.
links the work of the implementation team to that of users at all
organizational levels. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act  Requires financial institutions to ensure
extranet  Private intranet that is accessible to authorized outsiders. the security and confidentiality of customer data.
Fair Information Practices (FIP)  A set of principles originally set
forth in 1973 that governs the collection and use of information green computing (green IT)  Refers to practices and technologies
about individuals and forms the basis of most U.S. and European for designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of comput-
privacy laws. ers, servers, and associated devices such as monitors, printers,
fault-tolerant computer systems  Systems that contain extra hard- storage devices, and networking and communications systems to
ware, software, and power supply components that can back a minimize impact on the environment.
system up and keep it running to prevent system failure.
feasibility study  As part of the systems analysis process, the way to group decision-support system (GDSS)  An interactive computer-
determine whether the solution is achievable, given the organiza- based system to facilitate the solution to unstructured problems
tion’s resources and constraints. by a set of decision makers working together as a group.
feedback  Output that is returned to the appropriate members of the
organization to help them evaluate or correct input. hacker  A person who gains unauthorized access to a computer net-
field  A grouping of characters into a word, a group of words, or a work for profit, criminal mischief, or personal pleasure.
complete number, such as a person’s name or age.
file  A group of records of the same type. Hadoop  Open source software framework that enables distributed
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)  Tool for retrieving and transferring parallel processing of huge amounts of data across many inexpen-
files from a remote computer. sive computers.
FinTech  Start-up innovative financial technology firms and
­services. hertz  Measure of frequency of electrical impulses per second, with 1
firewall  Hardware and software placed between an organization’s Hertz equivalent to 1 cycle per second.
internal network and an external network to prevent outsiders
from invading private networks. HIPAA  Law outlining rules for medical security, privacy, and the
foreign key  Field in a database table that enables users find related management of healthcare records.
information in another database table.
formal control tools  Project management technique that helps hotspot  A specific geographic location in which an access point
monitor the progress toward completion of a task and fulfillment provides public Wi-Fi network service.
of goals.
formal planning tools  Project management technique that struc- HTML5  Next evolution of HTML, which makes it possible to embed
tures and sequences tasks, budgeting time, money, and technical images, video, and audio directly into a document without add-on
resources required to complete the tasks. software.
forward chaining  A strategy for searching the rule base in an expert
system that begins with the information entered by the user and hubs  Very simple devices that connect network components, send-
searches the rule base to arrive at a conclusion. ing a packet of data to all other connected devices.
franchiser  Form of business organization in which a product is
created, designed, financed, and initially produced in the home hybrid cloud  Computing model where firms use both their own IT
country, but for product-specific reasons relies heavily on for- infrastructure and also public cloud computing services.
eign personnel for further production, marketing, and human
resources. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)  Page description language
free/fremium revenue model  An e-commerce revenue model in for creating web pages.
which a firm offers basic services or content for free while charg-
ing a premium for advanced or high-value features. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)  The communications stan-
Gantt chart  Visually represents the timing, duration, and resource dard used to transfer pages on the web. Defines how messages
requirements of project tasks. are formatted and transmitted.
general controls  Overall control environment governing the design,
security, and use of computer programs and the security of data identity management  Business processes and software tools for
files in general throughout the organization’s information tech- identifying the valid users of a system and controlling their ac-
nology infrastructure. cess to system resources.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)  Legislation effective
May 25, 2018 that updates and unifies data privacy laws across identity theft  Theft of key pieces of personal information, such as
the European Union, focusing on making businesses more trans- credit card or Social Security numbers, in order to obtain mer-
parent and expanding the privacy rights of data subjects. chandise and services in the name of the victim or to obtain false
credentials.

Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative  A principle that states
that if an action is not right for everyone to take it is not right for
anyone.

implementation  All the organizational activities surrounding the
adoption, management, and routinization of an innovation, such
as a new information system.

in-memory computing  Technology for very rapid analysis and
processing of large quantities of data by storing the data in the
computer’s main memory rather than in secondary storage.

indirect goods  Goods not directly used in the production process,
such as office supplies.

inference engine  The strategy used to search through the rule base
in an expert system; can be forward or backward chaining.

Glossary G-6

information  Data that have been shaped into a form that is mean- internal integration tools  Project management technique that
ingful and useful to human beings. ­ensures that the implementation team operates as a cohesive
unit.
information asymmetry  Situation where the relative bargaining
power of two parties in a transaction is determined by one party international information systems architecture  The basic
in the transaction possessing more information essential to the information systems required by organizations to coordinate
transaction than the other party. worldwide trade and other activities.

information density  The total amount and quality of information Internet  Global network of networks using universal standards to
available to all market participants, consumers, and merchants. connect millions of different networks.

information policy  Formal rules governing the maintenance, distri- Internet of Things  Pervasive web in which each object or machine
bution, and use of information in an organization. has a unique identity and is able to use the Internet to link
with other machines or send data. Also known as the Industrial
information requirements  A detailed statement of the informa- Internet.
tion needs that a new system must satisfy; identifies who needs
what information, and when, where, and how the information is Internet Protocol (IP) address  Four-part numeric address indicat-
needed. ing a unique computer location on the Internet.

information rights  The rights that individuals and organizations Internet service provider (ISP)  A commercial organization with a
have with respect to information that pertains to themselves. permanent connection to the Internet that sells temporary con-
nections to subscribers.
information system  Interrelated components working together to
collect, process, store, and disseminate information to support Internet2  Research network with new protocols and transmission
decision making, coordination, control, analysis, and visualiza- speeds that provides an infrastructure for supporting high-­
tion in an organization. bandwidth Internet applications.

information systems audit  Identifies all the controls that govern interorganizational systems  Information systems that automate
individual information systems and assesses their effectiveness. the flow of information across organizational boundaries and link
a company to its customers, distributors, or suppliers.
information systems department  The formal organizational unit
that is responsible for the information systems function in the interpersonal roles  Mintzberg’s classification for managerial roles
organization. where managers act as figureheads and leaders for the organiza-
tion.
information systems literacy  Broad-based understanding of
information systems that includes behavioral knowledge about intranet  An internal network based on Internet and World Wide Web
organizations and individuals using information systems as well technology and standards.
as technical knowledge about computers.
intrusion detection system  Tools to monitor the most vulner-
information systems managers  Leaders of the various specialists able points in a network to detect and deter unauthorized
in the information systems department. i­ ntruders.

information systems plan  A road map indicating the direction of iOS  Operating system for the Apple iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
systems development: the rationale, the current situation, the IPv6  New IP addressing system using 128-bit IP addresses. Stands for
management strategy, the implementation plan, and the budget.
Internet Protocol version 6.
information technology (IT)  All the hardware and software tech- IT governance  Strategy and policies for using information technol-
nologies a firm needs to achieve its business objectives.
ogy within an organization, specifying the decision rights and
information technology (IT) infrastructure  Computer hardware, accountabilities to ensure that information technology supports
software, data, storage technology, and networks providing a the organization’s strategies and objectives.
portfolio of shared IT resources for the organization. iterative  A process of repeating over and over again the steps to
build a system.
informational roles  Mintzberg’s classification for managerial roles Java  Programming language that can deliver only the software
where managers act as the nerve centers of their organizations, functionality needed for a particular task, such as a small applet
receiving and disseminating critical information. downloaded from a network; can run on any computer and
operating system.
informed consent  Consent given with knowledge of all the facts joint application design (JAD)  Process to accelerate the genera-
needed to make a rational decision. tion of information requirements by having end users and infor-
mation systems specialists work together in intensive interactive
input  The capture or collection of raw data from within the orga- design sessions.
nization or from its external environment for processing in an just-in-time strategy  Scheduling system for minimizing inventory
information system. by having components arrive exactly at the moment they are
needed and finished goods shipped as soon as they leave the as-
instant messaging  Chat service that allows participants to create sembly line.
their own private chat channels so that a person can be alerted key field  A field in a record that uniquely identifies instances of that
whenever someone on his or her private list is online to initiate a record so that it can be retrieved, updated, or sorted.
chat session with that particular individual. key performance indicators  Measures proposed by senior manage-
ment for understanding how well the firm is performing along
intangible benefits  Benefits that are not easily quantified; they specified dimensions.
include more efficient customer service or enhanced decision keylogger  Spyware that records every keystroke made on a com-
making. puter to steal personal information or passwords or to launch
Internet attacks.
intellectual property  Intangible property created by individuals knowledge  Concepts, experience, and insight that provide a frame-
or corporations that is subject to protections under trade secret, work for creating, evaluating, and using information.
copyright, and patent law. knowledge base  Model of human knowledge that is used by expert
systems.
intelligence  The first of Simon’s four stages of decision making, knowledge discovery  Identification of novel and valuable patterns
when the individual collects information to identify problems in large databases.
occurring in the organization. knowledge management  The set of processes developed in an
organization to create, gather, store, maintain, and disseminate
intelligent agent  Software program that uses a built-in or learned the firm’s knowledge.
knowledge base to carry out specific, repetitive, and predictable
tasks for an individual user, business process, or software applica-
tion.

intelligent techniques  Technologies that aid human decision mak-
ers by capturing individual and collective knowledge, discovering
patterns and behaviors in large quantities of data, and generating
solutions to problems that are too large and complex for human
beings to solve on their own.

G-7 Glossary massive open online course (MOOC)  Online course made avail-
able via the web to very large numbers of participants.
knowledge management systems  Systems that support the cre-
ation, capture, storage, and dissemination of firm expertise and menu costs  Merchants’ costs of changing prices.
knowledge. metropolitan area network (MAN)  Network that spans a metro-

knowledge workers  People such as engineers or architects who politan area, usually a city and its major suburbs. Its geographic
design products or services and create knowledge for the organi- scope falls between a WAN and a LAN.
zation. microblogging  Blogging featuring very short posts, such as using
Twitter.
knowledge work systems  Information systems that aid knowledge micropayment systems  Payment for a very small sum of money,
workers in the creation and integration of new knowledge into often less than $10.
the organization. middle management  People in the middle of the organizational hi-
erarchy who are responsible for carrying out the plans and goals
learning management system (LMS)  Tools for the management, of senior management.
delivery, tracking, and assessment of various types of employee minicomputer  Middle-range computer used in systems for universi-
learning. ties, factories, or research laboratories.
mobile commerce (m-commerce)  The use of wireless devices,
legacy system  A system that has been in existence for a long time such as smartphones or tablets to conduct both business-to-
and that continues to be used to avoid the high cost of replacing consumer and business-to-business e-commerce transactions over
or redesigning it. the Internet.
mobile device management (MDM)  Software that monitors,
legitimacy  The extent to which one’s authority is accepted on manages, and secures mobile devices that are deployed across
grounds of competence, vision, or other qualities. multiple mobile service providers and multiple mobile operating
systems used in the organization.
liability  The existence of laws that permit individuals to recover the mobile web app  Internet-enabled app with specific functionality
damages done to them by other actors, systems, or organizations. for mobile devices that is accessed through a mobile device’s web
browser.
Linux  Reliable and compactly designed operating system that is an mobile website  Version of a regular website that is scaled down in
offshoot of UNIX and that can run on many different hardware content and navigation for easy access and search on a small
platforms and is available free or at very low cost. Used as alter- mobile screen.
native to UNIX. modem  A device for translating a computer’s digital signals into
analog form for transmission over analog networks or for trans-
local area network (LAN)  A telecommunications network that lating analog signals back into digital form for reception by a
requires its own dedicated channels and that encompasses a lim- computer.
ited distance, usually one building or several buildings in close Moore’s Law  Assertion that the number of components on a chip
proximity. doubles each year.
multicore processor  Integrated circuit to which two or more proces-
location-based services  GPS map services available on smart- sors have been attached for enhanced performance, reduced
phones. power consumption, and more efficient simultaneous processing
of multiple tasks.
location analytics  Ability to gain insights from the location (geo- multinational  Form of business organization that concentrates
graphic) component of data, including location data from mobile financial management, and control out of a central home base
phones, output from sensors or scanning devices, and data from while decentralizing production, sales, and marketing.
maps. multitiered (N-tier) client/server architecture  Client/server
network in which the work of the entire network is balanced over
long tail marketing  Refers to the ability of firms to profitably several different levels of servers.
­market goods to very small online audiences, largely because of multitouch  Interface that features the use of one or more finger
the lower costs of reaching very small market segments (people gestures to manipulate lists or objects on a screen without using a
who fall into the long tail ends of a Bell curve). mouse or keyboard.
nanotechnology  Technology that builds structures and processes
machine learning  Software that can identify patterns and rela- based on the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.
tionships in very large data sets without explicit programming native advertising  Placing ads within social network newsfeeds or
although with significant human training. traditional editorial content, such as a newspaper article.
native app  Standalone application designed to run on a specific plat-
mainframe  Largest category of computer, used for major business form and device and installed directly on the mobile device
processing. natural language processing (NLP)  AI technique for enabling a
computer to understand and analyze natural language as opposed
maintenance  Changes in hardware, software, documentation, or to language formatted to be understood by computers.
procedures to a production system to correct errors, meet new near field communication (NFC)  Short-range wireless connectiv-
requirements, or improve processing efficiency. ity standard that uses electromagnetic radio fields to enable two
compatible devices to exchange data when brought within a few
malware  Malicious software programs such as computer viruses, centimeters of each other.
worms, and Trojan horses. net marketplace  A single digital marketplace based on Internet
technology linking many buyers to many sellers.
managed security service provider (MSSP)  Company that pro- network  The linking of two or more computers to share data or
vides security management services for subscribing clients. resources, such as a printer.
network economics  Model of strategic systems at the industry
management information systems (MIS)  Specific category of level based on the concept of a network where adding another
information system providing reports on organizational perfor- participant entails zero marginal costs but can create much larger
mance to help middle management monitor and control the marginal gains.
business.

management information systems (MIS)  The study of informa-
tion systems focusing on their use in business and management.

managerial roles  Expectations of the activities that managers should
perform in an organization.

market creator  An e-commerce business model in which firms pro-
vide a digital online environment where buyers and sellers can
meet, search for products, and engage in transactions.

market entry costs  The cost merchants must pay to bring their
goods to market.

marketspace  A marketplace extended beyond traditional boundaries
and removed from a temporal and geographic location.

mashups  Composite software applications that depend on high-
speed networks, universal communication standards, and open
source code.

mass customization  The capacity to offer individually tailored prod-
ucts or services using mass production resources.

Glossary G-8

network operating system (NOS)  Special software that routes organizational impact analysis  Study of the way a proposed
and manages communications on the network and coordinates system will affect organizational structure, attitudes, decision
network resources. making, and operations.

networking and telecommunications technology  Physical devic- organizational learning  Creation of new standard operating proce-
es and software that link various computer hardware components dures and business processes that reflect organizations’ experi-
and transfer data from one physical location to another. ence.

neural network  Algorithms loosely based on the processing patterns output  The distribution of processed information to the people who
of the biological brain that can be trained to classify objects into will use it or to the activities for which it will be used.
known categories based on data inputs.
outsourcing  The practice of contracting computer center operations,
non-relational database management system  Database manage- telecommunications networks, or applications development to
ment system for working with large quantities of structured external vendors.
and unstructured data that would be difficult to analyze with a
relational model. packet switching  Technology that breaks messages into small, fixed
bundles of data and routes them in the most economical way
nonobvious relationship awareness (NORA)  Technology that through any available communications channel.
can find obscure hidden connections between people or other
entities by analyzing information from many different sources to paradigm shift  Radical reconceptualization of the nature of the busi-
correlate relationships. ness and the nature of the organization.

normalization  The process of creating small stable data structures parallel strategy  A safe and conservative conversion approach
from complex groups of data when designing a relational where both the old system and its potential replacement are run
database. together for a time until everyone is assured that the new one
functions correctly.
object  Software building block that combines data and the proce-
dures acting on the data. particularism  Making judgments and taking action on the basis
of narrow or personal characteristics, in all its forms (religious,
object-oriented development  Approach to systems development nationalistic, ethnic, regionalism, geopolitical position).
that uses the object as the basic unit of systems analysis and
design. The system is modeled as a collection of objects and the partner relationship management (PRM)  Automation of the
relationship between them. firm’s relationships with its selling partners using customer data
and analytical tools to improve coordination and customer sales.
Office 365  Hosted cloud version of Microsoft Office productivity and
collaboration tools as a subscription service. password  Secret word or string of characters for authenticating users
so they can access a resource such as a computer system.
offshore outsourcing  Outsourcing systems development work or
maintenance of existing systems to external vendors in another patch  Small pieces of software to repair the software flaws without
country. disturbing the proper operation of the software.

on-demand computing  Firms off-loading peak demand for comput- patent  A legal document that grants the owner an exclusive mo-
ing power to remote, large-scale data processing centers, invest- nopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 20 years; designed to
ing just enough to handle average processing loads and paying ensure that inventors of new machines or methods are rewarded
for only as much additional computing power as the market for their labor while making widespread use of their inventions.
demands. Also called utility computing.
peer-to-peer  Network architecture that gives equal power to all com-
online analytical processing (OLAP)  Capability for manipulating puters on the network; used primarily in small networks.
and analyzing large volumes of data from multiple perspectives.
personal area network (PAN)  Computer network used for commu-
online transaction processing  Transaction processing mode in nication among digital devices that are close to one person.
which transactions entered online are immediately processed by
the computer. personalization  Ability of merchants to target marketing messages
to specific individuals by adjusting the message for a person’s
open source software  Software that provides free access to its pro- name, interests, and past purchases.
gram code, allowing users to modify the program code to make
improvements or fix errors. PERT chart  Network diagram depicting project tasks and their inter-
relationships.
operating system  Software that manages the resources and activi-
ties of the computer. pharming  Phishing technique that redirects users to a bogus web
page, even when an individual enters the correct web page ad-
operational CRM  Customer-facing applications, such as sales force dress.
automation, call center and customer service support, and mar-
keting automation. phased approach  Introduces the new system in stages either by
functions or by organizational units.
operational intelligence  Business analytics that delivers insight
into data, streaming events, and business operations. phishing  Form of spoofing involving setting up fake websites or
sending email messages that resemble those of legitimate busi-
operational management  People who monitor the day-to-day activi- nesses that ask users for confidential personal data.
ties of the organization.
pilot study strategy  A strategy to introduce the new system to a
opt-in  Model of informed consent permitting prohibiting an orga- limited area of the organization until it is proven to be fully func-
nization from collecting any personal information unless the tional; only then can the conversion to the new system across the
individual specifically takes action to approve information collec- entire organization take place.
tion and use.
pivot table  Spreadsheet tool for reorganizing and summarizing two
opt-out  Model of informed consent permitting the collection of per- or more dimensions of data in a tabular format.
sonal information until the consumer specifically requests that
the data not be collected. platform  Business providing information systems, technologies, and
services that thousands of other firms in different industries use
organization (behavioral definition)  A collection of rights, privi- to enhance their own capabilities.
leges, obligations, and responsibilities that are delicately balanced
over a period of time through conflict and conflict resolution. podcasting  Publishing audio broadcasts via the Internet so that
subscribing users can download audio files onto their personal
organization (technical definition)  A stable, formal, social struc- computers or portable music players.
ture that takes resources from the environment and processes
them to produce outputs. portal  Web interface for presenting integrated personalized content
from a variety of sources. Also refers to a website service that
organizational and management capital  Investments in organiza- provides an initial point of entry to the web.
tion and management such as new business processes, manage-
ment behavior, organizational culture, or training. portfolio analysis  An analysis of the portfolio of potential applica-
tions within a firm to determine the risks and benefits, and to
select among alternatives for information systems.

G-9 Glossary public key encryption  Uses two keys: one shared (or public) and
one private.
post-implementation audit  Formal review process conducted after
a system has been placed in production to determine how well public key infrastructure (PKI)  System for creating public and
the system has met its original objectives. private keys using a certificate authority (CA) and digital certifi-
cates for authentication.
predictive analytics  The use of data mining techniques, historical
data, and assumptions about future conditions to predict out- pull-based model  Supply chain driven by actual customer orders
comes of events, such as the probability a customer will respond or purchases so that members of the supply chain produce and
to an offer or purchase a specific product. deliver only what customers have ordered.

predictive search  Part of a search alogrithm that predicts what a push-based model  Supply chain driven by production master sched-
user query is looking as it is entered based on popular searches. ules based on forecasts or best guesses of demand for products,
and products are “pushed” to customers.
price discrimination  Selling the same goods, or nearly the same
goods, to different targeted groups at different prices. quantum computing  Use of principles of quantum physics to rep-
resent data and perform operations on the data, with the ability
price transparency  The ease with which consumers can find out to be in many different states at once and to perform many differ-
the variety of prices in a market. ent computations simultaneously.

primary activities  Activities most directly related to the production query language  Software tool that provides immediate online an-
and distribution of a firm’s products or services. swers to requests for information that are not predefined.

primary key  Unique identifier for all the information in any row of radio frequency identification (RFID)  Technology using tiny tags
a database table. with embedded microchips containing data about an item and its
location to transmit short-distance radio signals to special RFID
privacy  The claim of individuals to be left alone, free from surveil- readers that then pass the data on to a computer for processing.
lance or interference from other individuals, organizations, or
the state. ransomware  Malware that extorts money from users by taking con-
trol of their computers or displaying annoying pop-up messages.
private cloud  A proprietary network or a data center that ties
together servers, storage, networks, data, and applications as Rapid Application Development (RAD)  Process for developing
a set of virtualized services that are shared by users inside a systems in a very short time period by using prototyping, state-
company. of-the-art software tools, and close teamwork among users and
systems specialists.
private exchange  Another term for a private industrial network.
private industrial networks  Web-enabled networks linking systems rationalization of procedures  The streamlining of standard operat-
ing procedures, eliminating obvious bottlenecks, so that automa-
of multiple firms in an industry for the coordination of trans- tion makes operating procedures more efficient.
organizational business processes.
process specifications  Describe the logic of the processes occurring record  A group of related fields.
within the lowest levels of a data flow diagram. referential integrity  Rules to ensure that relationships between
processing  The conversion, manipulation, and analysis of raw input
into a form that is more meaningful to humans. coupled database tables remain consistent.
product differentiation  Competitive strategy for creating brand relational DBMS  A type of logical database model that treats data as
loyalty by developing new and unique products and services that
are not easily duplicated by competitors. if they were stored in two-dimensional tables. It can relate data
production  The stage after the new system is installed and the con- stored in one table to data in another as long as the two tables
version is complete; during this time the system is reviewed by share a common data element.
users and technical specialists to determine how well it has met repetitive stress injury (RSI)  Occupational disease that occurs
its original goals. when muscle groups are forced through repetitive actions with
production or service workers  People who actually produce the high-impact loads or thousands of repetitions with low-impact
products or services of the organization. loads.
profiling  The use of computers to combine data from multiple request for proposal (RFP)  A detailed list of questions submitted
sources and create electronic dossiers of detailed information on to vendors of software or other services to determine how well
individuals. the vendor’s product can meet the organization’s specific require-
program-data dependence  The close relationship between ments.
data stored in files and the software programs that update responsibility  Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations
and m­ aintain those files. Any change in data organization or for the decisions one makes.
format requires a change in all the programs associated with responsive web design  Ability of a website to automatically change
those files. screen resolution and image size as a user switches to devices of
programmers  Highly trained technical specialists who write com- different sizes, such as a laptop, tablet computer, or smartphone.
puter software instructions. Eliminates the need for separate design and development work
programming  The process of translating the system specifications for each new device.
prepared during the design stage into program code. revenue model  A description of how a firm will earn revenue, gen-
project  Planned series of related activities for achieving a specific erate profits, and produce a return on investment.
business objective. richness  Measurement of the depth and detail of information that a
project management  Application of knowledge, tools, and tech- business can supply to the customer as well as information the
niques to achieve specific targets within a specified budget and business collects about the customer.
time period. risk assessment  Determining the potential frequency of the occur-
project portfolio management  Helps organizations evaluate and rence of a problem and the potential damage if the problem were
manage portfolios of projects and dependencies among them. to occur. Used to determine the cost/benefit of a control.
protocol  A set of rules and procedures that govern transmission risk aversion principle  Principle that one should take the action
between the components in a network. that produces the least harm or incurs the least cost.
prototype  The preliminary working version of an information sys- robotics  Use of machines that can substitute for human movements
tem for demonstration and evaluation purposes. as well as computer systems for their control, sensory feedback,
prototyping  The process of building an experimental system quickly and information processing.
and inexpensively for demonstration and evaluation so that users router  Specialized communications processor that forwards packets
can better determine information requirements. of data from one network to another network.
public cloud  A cloud maintained by an external service provider, ac- routines  Precise rules, procedures, and practices that have been
cessed through the Internet, and available to the general public. developed to cope with expected situations.

Glossary G-10

RSS  Technology using aggregator software to pull content from web- smart card  A credit-card-size plastic card that stores digital informa-
sites and feed it automatically to subscribers’ computers. tion and that can be used for electronic payments in place
of cash.
safe harbor  Private self-regulating policy and enforcement
­mechanism that meets the objectives of government smartphone  Wireless phone with voice, text, and Internet capa-
r­ egulations but does not involve government regulation or bilities.
e­ nforcement.
sniffer  Type of eavesdropping program that monitors information
sales revenue model  Selling goods, information, or services to cus- traveling over a network.
tomers as the main source of revenue for a company.
social business  Use of social networking platforms, including
Sarbanes-Oxley Act  Law passed in 2002 that imposes responsibil- Facebook, Twitter, and internal corporate social tools, to engage
ity on companies and their management to protect investors by employees, customers, and suppliers.
safeguarding the accuracy and integrity of financial information
that is used internally and released externally. social CRM  Tools enabling a business to link customer conversa-
tions, data, and relationships from social networking sites to CRM
scalability  The ability of a computer, product, or system to expand processes.
to serve a larger number of users without breaking down.
social engineering  Tricking people into revealing their passwords
scope  Defines what work is and is not included in a project. by pretending to be legitimate users or members of a company in
scoring model  A quick method for deciding among alternative sys- need of information.

tems based on a system of ratings for selected objectives. social graph  Map of all significant online social relationships, com-
search costs  The time and money spent locating a suitable product parable to a social network describing offline relationships.

and determining the best price for that product. social networking sites  Online community for expanding users’
search engine  A tool for locating specific sites or information on the business or social contacts by making connections through their
mutual business or personal connections.
Internet.
search engine marketing  Use of search engines to deliver in their social search  Effort to provide more relevant and trustworthy search
results based on a person’s network of social contacts.
results sponsored links, for which advertisers have paid.
search engine optimization (SEO)  The process of changing a web- social shopping  Use of websites featuring user-created web pages to
share knowledge about items of interest to other shoppers.
site’s content, layout, and format in order to increase the ranking
of the site on popular search engines and to generate more site sociotechnical design  Design to produce information systems that
visitors. blend technical efficiency with sensitivity to organizational and
Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (S-HTTP)  Protocol used for human needs.
encrypting data flowing over the Internet; limited to individual
messages. sociotechnical view  Seeing systems as composed of both technical
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)  Enables client and server computers to and social elements.
manage encryption and decryption activities as they communi-
cate with each other during a secure web session. software as a service (SaaS)  Services for delivering and providing
security  Policies, procedures, and technical measures used to pre- access to software remotely as a web-based service.
vent unauthorized access, alteration, theft, or physical damage to
information systems. software-defined networking (SDN)  Using a central control pro-
security policy  Statements ranking information risks, identifying gram separate from network devices to manage the flow of data
acceptable security goals, and identifying the mechanisms for on a network.
achieving these goals.
semantic search  Search technology capable of understanding software-defined storage (SDS)  Software to manage provisioning
h­ uman language and behavior. and management of data storage independent of the underlying
semi-structured decisions  Decisions in which only part of hardware.
the p­ roblem has a clear-cut answer provided by an accepted
p­ rocedure. software localization  Process of converting software to operate in a
senior management  People occupying the topmost hierarchy second language.
in an organization who are responsible for making long-range
­decisions. software package  A prewritten, precoded, commercially available
sensitivity analysis  Models that ask “what-if” questions repeatedly set of programs that eliminates the need to write software pro-
to determine the impact of changes in one or more factors on the grams for certain functions.
outcomes.
sentiment analysis  Mining text comments in an email message, spam  Unsolicited commercial email.
blog, social media conversation, or survey form to detect favor- spoofing  Tricking or deceiving computer systems or other computer
able and unfavorable opinions about specific subjects.
server  Computer specifically optimized to provide software and users by hiding one’s identity or faking the identity of another
other resources to other computers over a network. user on the Internet.
service level agreement (SLA)  Formal contract between customers spyware  Technology that aids in gathering information about a per-
and their service providers that defines the specific responsibili- son or organization without their knowledge.
ties of the service provider and the level of service expected by SQL injection attack  Attacks against a website that take advantage
the customer. of vulnerabilities in poorly coded SQL (a standard and com-
service-oriented architecture (SOA)  Software architecture of a mon database software application) applications in order to
firm built on a collection of software programs that communicate introduce malicious program code into a company’s systems
with each other to perform assigned tasks to create a working and networks.
software application strategic transitions  A movement from one level of sociotechnical
shopping bot  Software with varying levels of built-in intelligence to system to another. Often required when adopting strategic sys-
help electronic commerce shoppers locate and evaluate products tems that demand changes in the social and technical elements
or service they might wish to purchase. of an organization.
Six Sigma  A specific measure of quality, representing 3.4 defects per streaming  A publishing method for music and video files that flows
million opportunities; used to designate a set of methodologies a continuous stream of content to a user’s device without being
and techniques for improving quality and reducing costs. stored locally on the device.
structure chart  System documentation showing each level of de-
sign, the relationship among the levels, and the overall place in
the design structure; can document one program, one system, or
part of one program.
structured  Refers to the fact that techniques are carefully drawn up,
step by step, with each step building on a previous one.
structured decisions  Decisions that are repetitive and routine and
have a definite procedure for handling them.

G-11 Glossary technology standards  Specifications that establish the compatibility
of products and the ability to communicate in a network.
structured knowledge  Knowledge in the form of structured docu-
ments and reports. telepresence  Telepresence is a technology that allows a person to
give the appearance of being present at a location other than his
Structured Query Language (SQL)  The standard data manipula- or her true physical location.
tion language for relational database management systems.
Telnet  Network tool that allows someone to log on to one computer
subscription revenue model  Website charging a subscription fee for system while doing work on another.
access to some or all of its content or services on an ongoing basis.
test plan  Prepared by the development team in conjunction with the
supervised learning  Machine learning algorithm trained by provid- users; it includes all of the preparations for the series of tests to
ing specific examples of desired inputs and outputs classified by be performed on the system.
humans in advance.
testing  The exhaustive and thorough process that determines
supply chain  Network of organizations and business processes for whether the system produces the desired results under known
procuring materials, transforming raw materials into intermedi- conditions.
ate and finished products, and distributing the finished products
to customers. text mining  Discovery of patterns and relationships from large sets
of unstructured data.
supply chain execution systems  Systems to manage the flow of
products through distribution centers and warehouses to ensure token  Physical device similar to an identification card that is de-
that products are delivered to the right locations in the most ef- signed to prove the identity of a single user.
ficient manner.
total cost of ownership (TCO)  Designates the total cost of owning
supply chain management systems  Information systems that au- technology resources, including initial purchase costs, the cost of
tomate the flow of information between a firm and its suppliers hardware and software upgrades, maintenance, technical support,
in order to optimize the planning, sourcing, manufacturing, and and training.
delivery of products and services.
total quality management (TQM)  A concept that makes quality con-
supply chain planning systems  Systems that enable a firm to gen- trol a responsibility to be shared by all people in an organization.
erate demand forecasts for a product and to develop sourcing and
manufacturing plans for that product. touch point  Method of firm interaction with a customer, such as
telephone, email, customer service desk, conventional mail, or
support activities  Activities that make the delivery of a firm’s pri- point-of-purchase.
mary activities possible. Consist of the organization’s infrastruc-
ture, human resources, technology, and procurement. trade secret  Any intellectual work or product used for a business
purpose that can be classified as belonging to that business, pro-
switch  Device to connect network components that has more intel- vided it is not based on information in the public domain.
ligence than a hub and can filter and forward data to a specified
destination. transaction costs  Costs incurred when a firm buys on the market-
place what it cannot make itself.
switching costs  The expense a customer or company incurs in lost
time and expenditure of resources when changing from one sup- transaction cost theory  Economic theory stating that firms grow
plier or system to a competing supplier or system. larger because they can conduct marketplace transactions
internally more cheaply than they can with external firms in the
system testing  Tests the functioning of the information system as marketplace.
a whole in order to determine if discrete modules will function
together as planned. transaction fee revenue model  An online e-commerce revenue
model where the firm receives a fee for enabling or executing
systems analysis  The analysis of a problem that the organization transactions.
will try to solve with an information system.
transaction processing systems (TPS)  Computerized systems that
systems analysts  Specialists who translate business problems and perform and record the daily routine transactions necessary to
requirements into information requirements and systems, acting conduct the business; they serve the organization’s operational
as liaison between the information systems department and the level.
rest of the organization.
transborder data flow  The movement of information across inter-
systems design  Details how a system will meet the information national boundaries in any form.
requirements as determined by the systems analysis.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) 
systems development  The activities that go into producing an Dominant model for achieving connectivity among differ-
information systems solution to an organizational problem or ent networks. Provides a universally agreed-on method for
opportunity. breaking up digital messages into packets, routing them to the
proper addresses, and then reassembling them into coherent
systems life cycle  A traditional methodology for developing an messages.
information system that partitions the systems development pro-
cess into formal stages that must be completed sequentially with transnational  Truly global form of business organization with
a very formal division of labor between end users and informa- no national headquarters; value-added activities are managed
tion systems specialists. from a global perspective without reference to national borders,
optimizing sources of supply and demand and local competitive
T lines  High-speed guaranteed service level data lines leased from advantage.
communications providers, such as T-1 lines (with a transmission
capacity of 1.544 Mbps). Trojan horse  A software program that appears legitimate but con-
tains a second hidden function that may cause damage.
tablet computer  Mobile handheld computer that is larger than a
mobile phone and operated primarily by touching a flat screen. tuple  A row or record in a relational database.
two-factor authentication  Validating user identity with two means
tacit knowledge  Expertise and experience of organizational mem-
bers that has not been formally documented. of identification, one of which is typically a physical token, and
the other of which is typically data.
tangible benefits  Benefits that can be quantified and assigned unified communications  Integrates disparate channels for voice
a monetary value; they include lower operational costs and communications, data communications, instant messaging,
i­ncreased cash flows. email, and electronic conferencing into a single experience
where users can seamlessly switch back and forth between differ-
taxonomy  Method of classifying things according to a predetermined ent communication modes.
system. unified threat management (UTM)  Comprehensive secu-
rity m­ anagement tool that combines multiple security tools,
teams  Formal groups whose members collaborate to achieve specific
goals.

teamware  Group collaboration software that is customized for
­teamwork.

Glossary G-12

i­ncluding firewalls, virtual private networks, intrusion detection web browser  An easy-to-use software tool for accessing the World
­systems, and web content filtering and anti-spam software. Wide Web and the Internet.
uniform resource locator (URL)  The address of a specific resource
on the Internet. web hosting service  Company with large web server computers to
unit testing  The process of testing each program separately in the maintain the websites of fee-paying subscribers.
system. Sometimes called program testing.
Unix  Operating system for all types of computers, which is machine web mining  Discovery and analysis of useful patterns and informa-
independent and supports multiuser processing, multitasking, tion from the World Wide Web.
and networking. Used in high-end workstations and servers.
unstructured decisions  Nonroutine decisions in which the decision web server  Software that manages requests for web pages on the
maker must provide judgment, evaluation, and insights into the computer where they are stored and that delivers the page to the
problem definition; there is no agreed-upon procedure for mak- user’s computer.
ing such decisions.
unsupervised learning  Machine learning algorithm trained to use web services  Set of universal standards using Internet technology
information that is neither classified nor labeled in advance and to for integrating different applications from different sources with-
find patterns in that information without explicit human guidance. out time-consuming custom coding. Used for linking systems of
user interface  The part of the information system through which different organizations or for linking disparate systems within the
the end user interacts with the system; type of hardware and the same organization.
series of on-screen commands and responses required for a user
to work with the system. website  All of the World Wide Web pages maintained by an organiza-
user-designer communications gap  The difference in back- tion or an individual.
grounds, interests, and priorities that impede communication
and problem solving among end users and information systems Wi-Fi  Stands for “wireless fidelity” and refers to the 802.11 family of
specialists. wireless networking standards.
utilitarian principle  Principle that assumes one can put values in
rank order of utility and understand the consequences of various wide area network (WAN)  Telecommunications network that
courses of action. spans a large geographical distance. May consist of a variety of
value chain model  Model that highlights the primary or support cable, satellite, and microwave technologies.
activities that add a margin of value to a firm’s products or ser-
vices where information systems can best be applied to achieve a wiki  Collaborative website where visitors can add, delete, or modify
competitive advantage. content, including the work of previous authors.
value web  Customer-driven network of independent firms who use
information technology to coordinate their value chains to col- WiMax  Popular term for IEEE Standard 802.16 for wireless network-
lectively produce a product or service for a market. ing over a range of up to 31 miles with a data transfer rate of up
virtual company  Organization using networks to link people, assets, to 75 Mbps. Stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
and ideas to create and distribute products and services without Access.
being limited to traditional organizational boundaries or physical
location. Windows  Microsoft family of operating systems for both network
virtual private network (VPN)  A secure connection between two servers and client computers.
points across the Internet to transmit corporate data. Provides a
low-cost alternative to a private network. Windows 10  Most recent Microsoft Windows client operating
virtual reality systems  Interactive graphics software and hardware s­ ystem.
that create computer-generated simulations that provide sensa-
tions that emulate real-world activities. Wintel PC  Any computer that uses Intel microprocessors (or com-
virtualization  Presenting a set of computing resources so that they patible processors) and a Windows operating system.
can all be accessed in ways that are not restricted by physical
configuration or geographic location. wireless sensor networks (WSNs)  Networks of interconnected
visual web  Refers to web linking visual sites such as Pinterest where wireless devices with built-in processing, storage, and radio
pictures replace text documents and where users search on pic- frequency sensors and antennas that are embedded into the
tures and visual characteristics. physical environment to provide measurements of many points
Voice over IP (VoIP)  Facilities for managing the delivery of voice over large spaces.
information using the Internet Protocol (IP).
war driving  Technique in which eavesdroppers drive by buildings or wisdom  The collective and individual experience of applying knowl-
park outside and try to intercept wireless network traffic. edge to the solution of problems.
web beacons  Tiny objects invisibly embedded in email messages
and web pages that are designed to monitor the behavior of the wisdom of crowds  The belief that large numbers of people
user visiting a website or sending email. can make better decisions about a wide range of topics or
­products than a single person or even a small committee of
experts.

World Wide Web  A system with universally accepted standards for
storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information in a
networked environment.

worms  Independent software programs that propagate themselves to
disrupt the operation of computer networks or destroy data and
other programs.

XML (Extensible Markup Language)  General-purpose language
that describes the structure of a document and can perform
presentation, communication, and storage of data, allowing data
to be manipulated by the computer.

zero-day vulnerabilities  Security vulnerabilities in software,
­unknown to the creator, that hackers can exploit before the
­vendor becomes aware of the problem.

INDEXES J

Name Index Jobs, Steve, 57
Johnson, Sherry, 148
A Jones, Dow, 324
Juran, Joseph, 496
Acemoglu, Daron, 148
Amoruso, Sophia, 414 K
Autor, David, 148
Kalanick, Travis, 389
B Kelley, Devin Patrick, 239
Khan, Iftekhar, 208
Beckham, Odell, 52 Khosrowshahi, Dara, 389
Bessen, James, 149 Kriebal, Dennis, 148
Bonanno, Mike, 400
Brin, Sergey, 273–274 L
Brown Simpson, Nicole, 239, 240
Brynjolfsson, Erik, 147 Litan, Avivah, 333
Lozano, Vicky, 98
C
M
Camp, Garrett, 389
Caras, Jason, 270 Manyika, James, 148
Carr, Nicholas, 151, 152 McAfee, Andrew P., 147
Casey, Jim, 23 Metcalfe, Robert, 173
Chapmen, Andrew, 534 Meyers, Greg, 446
Chui, Michael, 148 Mintzberg, Henry, 88
Clinton, Hillary, 247 Miremadi, Mehdi, 148
Cook, Tim, 158, 290 Moakler, Steve, 399
Corden, James, 374 Moore, Gordon, 171
Cryan, John, 37 Moskites, Tammy, 208
Curley, Jim, 163 Mubarak, Hosni, 345
Mueller, Robert, 295
D Myers, Deanna, 442

Davis, Betty, 414 O
Davis, Miles, 414
Delavan, Charles, 295 Obama, Barack, 247, 265
Deming, W. Edwards, 496 Oxley, Michael, 310
Dittakavi, Sundar, 231
Dixon, Pamela, 334 P

E Page, Larry, 273
Porter, Michael, 94
Eakin, Samuel, 74
R
F
Reinkemeyer, Lars, 472
Fayol, Henri, 465 Rennells, Joshua, 368
Filo, David, 273 Restrepo, Pascual, 148
Flannery, Jeff, 488 Ryan, Claude, 23
Ford, Henry, 57
Friedman, Thomas, 11 S

G Sarbanes, Paul, 310
Schultz, Debbie Wasserman, 295
Gamble, John, 333 Serry, Mohammed, 345
Gates, Bill, 57 Simon, H., 463
Goldman, Ronald, 239 Simpson, O.J., 239
Gownder, J. P., 447 Singh, Megh, 584
Smith, David M., 240
H Smith, Richard, 333, 334
Smoker, Pat, 459
Hammonds, Kim, 37 Stefanek, Ann, 239
Hawkins, Adrian, 295
Hawkins, Dave, 295 T
Hernandez, Scott, 75
Hughes, Ian, 447 Tamene, Yared, 295
Torvalds, Linus, 190
I Trump, Donald, 247, 265, 295, 400

Immelt, Jeffrey, 487, 488

I-1

Indexes I-2

Trump, Ivanka, 400 Blockbuster, 87
Twenge, Jean, 151 Blogger.com, 277
Blue Apron, 118
U BMW, 148, 398
Boeing, 181
Ulzheimer, John, 333 Boohoo, 415
Boston Consulting Group, 455, 591
V BP plc, 488

Vukojevic, Aleksandar, 181 C

W C3 IoT, 488
Cable News Network (CNN), 570
Walsh, John, 399 Cablevision, 254, 268
Ward, Adrian, 151 Cadillac, 454
Caesars Entertainment, 234
Y California Pizza Kitchen, 476
Cameron International Corporation, 493, 494
Yang, Jerry, 273 Capgemini, 419
Carnegie Mellon, 561
Z Carter, 497
CBS, 373
Zeppenfeld, Chris, 211 CenterPoint Properties, 269
Zuckerberg, Mark, 291, 292, 446 Charlotte Hornets, 211–213
Cisco Systems, 12, 23, 90, 171, 186, 320
Organizations Index Citibank, 15, 88, 109
Clemens Food Group, 368
A Coca-Cola, 343, 440, 570
Comcast, 254, 265
ABB, 488 ComScore, 279
AbbVie, 586 ConEdison, 102
Accenture, 38, 92, 180, 324 conglomerates, 488
Advanced Micro Design (AMD), 11 ConocoPhillips, 552
Airbnb, 107, 388, 405 Consumer Reports, 158, 391
Akershus University Hospital(Ahus), 419 Costco, 117
Alcoa, 344 Covestro, 75
Alibaba Group, 584, 592 Crayola, 97–99
Amazon, 7, 13, 45, 52, 61, 94, 97, 100, 101, 105, 109, 116–118, CSG Government Solutions, 562
Cyence, 334
134–135, 141, 143–144, 157, 171, 180, 185–188, 225,
246, 263, 265–266, 273–274, 292, 304, 324–325, D
376, 378, 382–388, 391–392, 405–406, 427, 430–431,
438, 488, 501, 519 Dell Inc., 90
American Airlines, 109 Deloitte Consultants, 118, 497
American Bar Association (ABA), 131 Delta Airlines, 359
American Medical Association (AMA), 131 Deutsche Bank, 36–38
Ann Taylor, 108 DHL, 181
Anthem Inc., 480 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), 167
Apache, 179, 190, 228, 272, 333 DixonTiconderoga, 98
Apple Inc., 14–15, 37, 151, 157, 158, 206, 207, 290–292 Dollar General, 117
Arby, 400 Dollar Rent A Car, 193
Argo AI, 453 Dropbox, 63, 182, 186–188, 386
Arup Group, 554 Duke Energy, 181
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 131 DuPont, 460
Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP), 131
AT&T, 108, 179, 254, 262, 279–280, 292, 323, 441 E
Audi, 442, 446
Avon, 339 EarthLink, 262
Eastman Chemical Company, 90
B eBay, 12–13, 101, 107, 109, 304–305, 376, 383, 385–386, 388, 392, 414,

BAE Systems, 403 473, 592
Baidu, 592 Electronic Frontier Foundation, 265
Ball State University, 148 Elemica, 385–386
Banco Santander, 38 Eli Lilly and Company, 565
Bank of America, 105, 124, 406, 441, 473 Enron, 310
Bank of New York, 105 Epinions, 392
Barnes & Noble, 228 Equifax, 128, 333–335
BASF, 74 ESPN, 446
BBC, 373 Esquel Group, 75
Bear Stearns, 467 Estee Lauder, 591
Best Buy, 45, 406 ETrade, 386
Black & Veatch, 476
Blackstone, 207

I-3 Indexes Instacart, 117
Instagram, 98, 275, 291, 378, 388, 396–397, 414, 584
Exostar, 386, 403 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 282
Expedia, 262, 376, 386, 388 Intel, 207
International Data Center, 227
F International Data Corp (IDC), 270
Internet Architecture Board (IAB), 264
Faber-Castelli, 98 Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), 264
Facebook, 6–8, 57, 61, 63–64, 74–75, 97–99, 101, 107, 109, 134–135, 137, Internet Research Agency, 157
Intrawest, 49
142, 146, 157–159, 182, 189, 195, 206, 208, 228–229, 236, 265–266,
268, 270, 273, 275, 277–278, 290–292, 301, 353, 362, 377–379, J
386–388, 391, 394, 396–400, 405–408, 414, 430–431, 437–438, 446,
470, 584, 591–592 JANA Partners, 151
Fair Isaac Corporation, 334 Javelin Strategy & Research, 304
Famous Footwear, 224 JCPenney, 14–15, 378
Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 265 JD Edwards Enterprise, 345
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 334 JDA Software, 339–341, 350, 361, 436
Federal Trade Commission, 133 JPMorgan Chase, 105, 406
FedEx, 6, 23, 45, 104, 109, 186, 280, 472–473 Juniper Networks, 179, 320
Fidelity Financial Services, 388
Fitbit, 102 K
FogHorn Systems, 488
Food Marketing Institute, 116 Kazaa, 141
Ford Motor Company, 444, 453 Kennametal, 361
Foursquare, 405 KFC, 573
Foxconn, 90, 567 Kickstarter.com, 388, 398
Kiehl Stores, 405
G Kmart, 360–361
Knight Capital, 468
Gap.com, 391 Kodak, 90
Garmin, 102 Kraft Foods, 230
Gartner Inc., 121, 179, 181, 237, 333 Kraft Heinz, 230–231
General Electric (GE), 278, 474, 487, 488 Kroger, 117
General Motors, 453
GettyImages.com, 386 L
GlaxoSmithKline, 124
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 437 Lacoste, 76
Google, 7, 12–13, 61, 63, 87, 94, 97, 99, 101, 109, 121, 127, 134–138, 140, Langone Medical Center, 445
Lehman Brothers, 467
144, 158, 171, 178, 181–183, 185, 187–191, 195, 225, 228–229, 235, Levi Strauss, 108
247–248, 265–268, 272–277, 284, 290–292, 305, 309–310, 373–378, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, 128
384, 386–389, 391, 394, 398, 405–406, 427, 431, 436, 438, 453, 467, Li & Fung, 108, 350
488, 584, 591–592 LinkedIn, 278, 301, 362, 378, 388, 396–397, 399, 584
Government Accountability Office (GAO), 239 LLBean.com, 391
Grokster, 141 Lockheed Martin, 400, 403
GUESS, 108 Lyft, 378, 390, 405, 453
GumGum, 437
M
H
Mack Trucks, 399
H&M, 415 Macy’s, 283, 378, 406
Harrah’s Entertainment, 234 Maersk, 570
Hatfield Quality Meats, 368 Mandarin Oriental, 14
Haworth Incorporated, 350 MapMyFitness, 102
Heinz, 61, 230–231 Marcus & Millichap, 118
Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc., 415 MasterCard, 128, 142, 308, 315, 591
Hewlett Packard Enterprise, 37, 459 Match.com, 391
HighJump, 415 McAfee, 147, 309
Hilton Hotels, 99–100 McKinsey & Company, 56, 58, 148, 277
Hitachi, 515, 528–529 MEGA, 98
Home Depot, 305, 406 Megaupload, 141
Hon Hai Group, 567 Mercedes, 453
Honda, 90, 187 Meridian Energy Ltd., 247
Honeywell, 488 MetLife, 225
Hulu, 265, 373, 391, 446 Microsoft, 4, 75, 187, 270, 488
Hunch.com, 473 Mizuho Bank, 436
MobileIron, 207
I ModCloth, 75
Monsanto, 460
IBM, 61, 63–65, 75, 87–88, 163–164, 167, 169, 171, 176–180, Morpheus, 141
183, 187, 191, 229–230, 237, 247, 268, 277–278, 323, 343, 419–420, Motorola, 446
425, 435–436, 440, 468, 473, 479, 488, 501, 560–561, 581, 586 Mozilla Foundation, 137

IKEA, 194–195, 398
Infor Global Solutions, 343
Information Builders, 514
Infosys, 180

Indexes I-4

MSN, 386–387 S
MyPoints, 392
SalesForce.com, 68, 87, 111, 171, 185, 187–188, 195, 354, 362, 388
N Sam’s Club, 117
Samsung, 157, 290
Napster, 141 Sanofi Pasteur, 41
NASA, 75, 183 SAP, 61, 87, 163, 171, 179, 194, 207, 211, 212, 229–231, 343, 350, 354,
Nasty Gal, 414
National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), 278 361–362, 368–369, 442–443, 468, 471, 479, 488, 493–495, 497–498,
National Health Service (NHS), 246 521, 533–535, 552–553, 565–566, 586
Netflix, 7–8, 141, 143, 186, 265–266, 303, 384, 391, 415, 430–431, 446, 518 Sargent & Lundy, 442
Network Advertising Initiative, 137 SAS Institute, 488
NetZero, 262 Schlumberger Holdings Corporation, 493
New York Times, 157, 378, 591 Schneider National, 351, 474, 496
NextBio, 229 Sears, 96
NFL, 52–53 Shopkick, 406
Nick’s Sausage Company, 368 Sidecar, 389, 390
Nike, 76, 97, 100, 292, 346–348 Siegel+Gale, 158
Nissan, 157, 453–454 Siemens AG, 471, 488
Nordstrom, 400 Six Flags, 55
Novell, 170 Skype, 61–62, 265, 268, 482, 554, 592
Snapchat, 393, 414, 591
O Sony, 305–306, 584
Southwest Airlines, 193
Oculus VR, 446 Sports Authority, 406
Old Navy, 10 Spotify, 80, 121, 141, 246, 303, 384
Open Handset Alliance, 178 Sprint, 108, 279
OpenSignal, 206 Stamos Capital Partners LP, 415
OpenSource.org, 190 Standard Oil, 292
Oracle, 488 Stanford University, 173, 273
Oscar Mayer, 230 Staples, 117, 387, 445
OshKosh B’gosh, 497 Starbucks, 10, 79–80, 100, 472, 474–475
State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), 151
P Stepan, 533, 534
Sun Microsystems, 191
Panda Security, 301 SunGard Availability Services, 315
Pandora, 141, 391 Swiss Re, 207
Panorama Consulting Solutions, 360 Sybase, 177, 179
PayPal, 97, 304, 383, 392, 430 Symantec, 139, 146, 321, 323
Paytm, 585
PCL, 3 T
PDC, 481
Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, 560 Taco Bell, 476
Pepsico, 61, 398 TAL Apparel Ltd., 15
PeroxyChem, 163 Target, 13–14, 49, 80, 97, 111, 127, 133, 137, 142, 157, 159, 291, 295–296,
Phizzle, 211
Photobucket.com, 386 303–306, 308, 359, 368, 381, 397, 401, 431, 434, 471, 474, 479, 536,
Pinterest, 98, 275, 378, 397, 408 540, 548
Pixar Animation Studios, 278 Tasty Baking Company, 343
Pluto TV, 446 Tenaris, 441
Pompidou Center, 554 Tencent, 592
Ponemon Institute, 303–304 Tesla, 324, 453, 454
Priceline.com, 386 The Pirate Bay, 141
Procter & Gamble (P&G), 348, 438 The Software Alliance, 141
Produban, 62 ThomasNet.com, 236
Progressive Insurance, 478 TIBCO, 501
Proofpoint, 270 Time Warner, 268
Purdue University, 459 T-Mobile, 108, 279
Tower Records, 87
Q Toyota, 90, 94, 99–100
Travelocity, 101
Qualcomm, 177, 441 Tumblr, 7–8, 305, 388, 397
Quantcast, 136 Twitter, 6–8, 57, 74–75, 98, 142, 144, 182, 208, 227, 229, 246, 265, 275,
Quantum View Manage® technology, 24 277–278, 301, 303, 353, 362, 378, 386, 388, 396–399, 405–408, 414,
466, 470, 591–592
R TypePad.com, 277

Ralph Lauren, 76 U
Raytheon, 403
Red Hat, 191 U.S. Air Force, 239
Reebok, 108 U.S. Department of Commerce, 134
Renault, 437 U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Ricoh, 181
Rolls-Royce PLC, 403 (DARPA), 258
U.S. Department of Defense, 176, 258, 262

I-5 Indexes Adobe Illustrator, 195
advertising, 238, 276, 283, 290–292
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 278 advertising, blast-and-scatter, 396
U.S. Federal Highway Administration, 425 advertising, display, 377
U.S. Federal Reserve, 38 advertising revenue model, 390
U.S. Internal Revenue Service, 47 affiliate revenue model, 392
U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 184 agency theory, 90
U.S. Postal Service, 23 agent-based modeling, 438
Uber, 100, 107, 117, 144, 292, 324, 378, 382, 388–389, 405, 453–455, 592 agile development, 517–518, 524
Under Armour, 101–102 AI. See artificial intelligence
United Parcel Service (UPS), 6, 23, 521 algorithms, 291
United States Patent and Trademark Office, 139 algorithms, genetic, 435–436, 449
Universal Robots, 437 algorithms, Hummingbird search, 275
UPS Capital, 24 Altair 8800, 88, 169
UPS Supply Chain Solutions, 23, 351 Amazon Alexa, 430
Uptake, 488 Amazon Prime, 116–117
Urban Outfitters, 415 Amazon Relational Database Service, 225
ambient data, 311
V analog signal, 259
analytic platforms, 229, 231, 246, 357, 468
Vail Resorts, 49 analytic software, 4
Venafi, 207, 208 analytical CRM, 357–358, 364
Veriato, 270 Ancestry.com, 391
Verizon, 15, 87, 108, 179, 254, 262, 279–280, 305, 323–324 Android operating system, 175, 196, 291–292
VEVO, 373 Android, 178
Viacom, 324 Anti-malware software, 320
Virgin Entertainment Group, 268 antivirus software, 297, 305
Visa Inc., 591 AOL Instant Messenger, 267
Visa, 117, 128, 308, 433, 591 Apache, 177, 179, 190, 204, 228, 272, 333
Vodafone, 584 App Internet, 278
Volkswagen, 181, 402, 446 Apple iOS, 329
Volvo, 454 Apple iPad, 9–10, 178
Apple iPhone, 9–10, 108, 377, 568
W Apple iPod, 87
Apple iTunes, 7, 97, 141, 384
Wall Street Journal, 136, 273, 324, 381 Apple Safari, 191
Walmart, 14, 94, 96–97, 117–118, 283 Apple Watch, 381, 406
Waze, 405 application controls, 312, 328
WebEx, 61, 482 application layer, 258–259, 487
Whole Foods, 116–118 application proxy filtering, 318–319
World Bank, 425 application server, 169, 236
WorldCom, 310 applications, international information systems, 560
WSJ.com, 386 applications, location-based services, 401–402
apps, 195
X AR. See augmented reality
architecture and governance, 263
Xamarin, 521 artificial intelligence (AI), 419, 427, 447, 449
as-is process, 471
Y asset management systems, 440
associations, 64, 104, 127–128, 131, 145, 233, 451, 585
Yahoo!, 267, 333, 335 asymmetry, 382, 384, 410
Yelp, 392 ATMs. See automated teller machines
YouTube, 8, 98–99, 101, 137, 206, 208, 246, 265, 291, 301, 323, 362, attribute, 214
auditing, 315, 329
373–375, 378, 399, 431, 584, 592 augmented reality (AR), 445, 449
AUP. See acceptable use policy
Z authentication, 226, 298, 307, 311, 315–318, 324, 327–329, 518
automated teller machines (ATMs), 15
Zara, 415 Automation, 495
Zebra Technologies, 52 autonomous vehicles, 453–455
ZipRealty, 195 avatar, 61, 388, 446
aversion principle, 130, 153
Subject Index AWS. See Amazon Web Service
Azure cloud service, 185
A
B
acceptable use policy (AUP), 314
acceptance testing, 505 BA. See business analytics
access points, 298–299 balanced scorecard method, 478
access rules, 318 bandwidth, 261, 264–267, 287
accountability, 129, 153–154
accounting practices, 571–572
ad hoc query, 472, 480
Ad Network, 137, 395
addressing and architecture, 262
Adobe Acrobat Reader, 10
Adobe Connect, 61

Indexes I-6

bar code devices, 23 Change agent, 545
behavioral approach, 28–29, 32 Change management, 545
behavioral models, 465 chat systems, 267
behavioral targeting, 393 chatbots, 292, 433, 438, 449
behavioral view of organization, 83 Chatter, 61, 64, 70
benchmarking, 103, 482 checkout counters, 16
best practices, 104 chief data officer (CDO), 67
BI. See business intelligence chief information officer (CIO), 67, 575
bias, 75, 247, 503 chief knowledge officer (CKO), 67
big data, 227–230, 234–235, 242, 246–248, 459–460, 473–474 chief operating officer (COO), 50
Bing, 273, 276, 289, 387 chief privacy officer (CPO), 67
biometric authentication, 317, 329 chief security officer (CSO), 67
bit, 213–214 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), 132–133
bits per second (bps), 261 China, 591–593
blast-and-scatter advertising, 396 choice, 463
blockchain, 225–226, 322 Chrome operating system, 178
Blog, 277 Chrome web browser, 178, 190
blogosphere, 277 chromosomes, 435
blogroll, 277 churn rate, 358, 364
bluetooth, 280, 299 CIO. See chief information officer
bot, 146, 157, 303 circuit-switched networks, 257
botnet, 301, 303 CKO. See chief knowledge officer
BPM. See business performance management class, 508–510
BPR. See business process reengineering classical model of management, 465
break-even point, 477 classifications, 233, 466
bring your own device (BYOD), 182, 208 click fraud, 305
broadband connections, 254, 262 click-throughs, 276
broadcast model, 381 client computers, 138, 169, 255–256, 268
broadcast, 8, 55, 87, 135, 226, 299, 381, 437 client/server computing, 169, 256–257, 261, 268, 288, 298
Brown Bag Software v. Symantec Corp, 139 client/server era, 169–170
bugs, 136–137, 143–144, 307, 326, 328, 395 Clients, 169
bullwhip effect, 348–349, 364 cloud collaboration services, 61, 63
business analytics (BA), 468 cloud computing, 170, 183–188, 225, 309–310, 323–325, 345–346, 361
Business ByDesign, 361 Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), 326
business challenges, 5, 21, 112, 165, 213, 375, 409, 421, 461, 483, cloud software service, 515, 529
cloud streaming, 384
566–567, 571 cloud-based software, 194–195
business continuity planning, 315 CLTV. See customer lifetime value
business drivers, 568–570 clustering, 234, 483
business ecosystems, 107–109, 113 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), 279, 287
business functions, 9, 19–20, 46, 53, 70, 195, 221, 328, 367, 489, 539, codes of conduct, 131
coercive goals, 89
570, 577 cognitive computing, 419
business intelligence (BI), 47, 468 collaboration, 56, 421, 524–526
business models, 14–15, 378–379, 467 command and control, 60
business objectives, 7, 13, 15–16, 84, 109, 406, 410, 541 Common Gateway Interface (CGI), 236
business performance management (BPM), 479, 498 common user requirements, 576, 579
business process redesign, 495–498, 501, 523 communities of practice (COPs), 425, 443
business process reengineering (BPR), 546 community providers, 388, 410
business processes, 12, 19–20, 51 competition, 144
business value, 328, 424–425, 534, 538 competitive advantage, 14–15, 109–110, 352, 516
Business-to-business (B2B), 385 competitive forces model, 94, 108, 112, 198–199, 202
Business-to-consumer (B2C), 385 competitive strategies, 94, 100–101
BYOD. See bring your own device complementary assets, 16, 26–27, 32
byte, 213–214 component-based development, 518, 524
CompStat, 246
C computer abuse, 146, 154
computer crime, 145–146, 154, 302–304, 311
cable Internet connections, 262, 287 computer forensics, 311, 328
cable modems, 259 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 304
cable networks, 143, 259 computer hardware, 21, 170, 176–177, 180, 188, 298
CAD. See computer-aided design computer literacy, 18, 27
capital budgeting, 542–543, 557–559, 578 computer networks, 253–255, 257, 280, 287, 301
capital investments, 89 Computer Software Copyright Act, 139
carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), 149 Computer software, 21
cash flow, 24, 345–346, 470, 479, 559 Computer virus, 299
CDO. See chief data officer computer vision syndrome (CVS), 150, 154
cellular systems, 279 Computer vision systems, 436
central systems group, 576 computer-aided design (CAD), 426, 444, 449, 559
centralization, 364
centralized systems, 574–575
CGI. See Common Gateway Interface

I-7 Indexes Data dictionary, 221
data flow diagram (DFD), 507, 523
computer-aided software engineering, 511 data governance, 237–238
computerized tomography (CT), 445 Data inconsistency, 215
computer-to-computer exchange, 401 Data lake, 231
Consumer Reports, 158, 391 data management, 13, 21, 32
Consumerization of IT, 182 data manipulation language, 219, 221, 241–242
Consumer-to-consumer (C2C), 385 Data mart, 228
content providers, 375, 387, 391, 410 data mining, 133, 233
continuous measurement, 499 Data Protection Directive, 134, 571
continuous quality improvement, 496 Data quality audit, 238
control weaknesses, 316, 328 data quality, 111–112
Controls, 297 Data redundancy, 215
conversational commerce, 377 data resource, 213, 236, 241–242
Conversion, 506 data transfer rate, 260
COO. See chief operating officer data visualization, 211, 362, 469–471
cookies, 134–136, 138, 153, 307, 394–395 data warehouse, 211–213, 228
cooptation, 579–580 data workers, 19–20, 32
COPPA. See Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Data, 16, 422
COPs. See communities of practice Database administration, 237
copyright law, 138–139, 153 database management system (DBMS), 217, 241
Copyright, 138 Database server, 236
core business processes, 12, 32, 577–579, 588, 590 Database, 216
core competency, 105–106, 441 DBMS. See database management system
core systems, 576–578, 581–582 DDoS attack, 303, 325
corporate assets, 12 DDoS. See distributed denial-of-service
cost transparency, 381 dealership in a briefcase, 446
cost-per-click, 291 debugging, 327
counterimplementation, 549 decentralized client-server, 144
CPO. See chief privacy officer decentralized systems, 574
credit cards, 36, 142, 333–334, 585 decision making, 461–464
CRM. See customer relationship management decisional role, 465–466
crop yields, 460 decision-support systems (DSS), 49, 70, 476, 484
cross-functional systems, 46, 583 “Deep learning,” 434
cross-selling, 355, 358, 470 deep packet inspection (DPI), 323
crowdsource funding, 388 delivery platform, 469, 476, 484
Crowdsourcing, 398 demand planning, 350
CryptoLocker, 300 denial-of-service (DoS) attack, 303, 328
Crystal Reports, 222 Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects
CSA. See Cloud Security Alliance
CSO. See chief security officer Agency (DARPA), 258
CT. See computerized tomography Department of Defense, 176, 258, 262, 306
CTS. See carpal tunnel syndrome deregulation, 253, 265
Culture, 20 Design, 463
currency fluctuations, 572 developing countries, 292, 582
customer intimacy, 14, 352, 364 DevOps, 517–518, 524–525
customer lifetime value (CLTV), 357 DFD. See data flow diagram
customer relationship management (CRM), 54, 68–70, 99, 187, digital asset management systems, 440
digital certificates, 321–322, 329
353–354, 362 digital dashboard, 4, 15, 50–51, 246
customer service, 20, 364 digital divide, 147
customization, 97, 195, 343, 360–361, 368–369, 379, 381, 404, 410, 446, digital firm, 3–4, 8, 12, 32, 108, 517, 524
digital goods, 382–385
494, 515, 586 digital information, 7, 62, 127, 147, 173, 261, 320, 439
CVS. See computer vision syndrome digital markets, 382–384, 410
cyberbullying, 145 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 141
cybercrime, 146, 303 digital networks, 12, 55, 141, 174, 256, 323
cybervandalism, 302 digital signal, 259
cyberwarfare, 295, 306, 335 digital subscriber line (DSL), 262, 287
cycles per second, 261 digital versus analog, 259
direct cutover strategy, 506
D direct goods, 403, 408
Directive on Data Protection, 134
dark web, 273 direct-marketing campaigns, 355, 357
DARPA. See Department of Defense Advanced Research disaster recovery planning, 315
disintermediation, 383–384, 408
Projects Agency dispatchers, 23
data administration, 237–238, 242, 549 disruptive technologies, 87–88
data analysis, 99, 122, 126–128, 153, 229, 231–233, 242, 246, 354, dissemination, 25, 42, 216, 425
Distributed database, 225
357–358, 362, 460, 477, 480, 482, 489
data breaches, 304–305, 335
data brokers, 155
data cleansing, 238, 242, 361, 369, 586
data collection, 459
Data definition, 221

Indexes I-8

distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), 303 environmental scanning, 86
distribution center, 12, 23, 346, 350, 463, 592 ergonomics, 550–551, 553
distribution model, 14, 384 ERM. See employee relationship management
DMCA. See Digital Millennium Copyright Act ERP. See enterprise resource planning
DNS. See Domain Name System ESS. See executive support systems
documentation, 3, 311, 316, 363, 498, 504–507, 511, 514, 515, e-tailers, 386–388, 410
ethanol, 95, 289
555–556, 566 ethernet, 173, 175–176, 260
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, 16 ethical analysis, 129, 131, 153, 155
Domain Name System (DNS), 262, 287 ethical dilemma, 122–124, 129, 131
domain name, 262–264, 268, 272, 287 ethical no-free-lunch rule, 130, 153
domestic exporter, 573–575 ethics, 124, 129, 131, 156, 435
DoS attack, 303, 306 ETrade, 386
DoS. See denial-of-service European Union (EU), 134
DoubleClick, 394 evil twins, 304
downstream, 347–349, 530 exchanges, 264, 352, 395, 401–404, 412, 438, 467
Downtime, 323 executive support systems (ESS), 50, 70, 478, 484
DPI. See deep packet inspection expert systems, 424, 426, 428–430, 449
drill down, 50, 180, 234, 443, 471–472, 479, 484, 554 explicit knowledge, 422, 438
drive-by downloads, 301 exports, 11
driving habits, 127 extensible markup language (XML), 518
Dropbox, 10, 63, 182, 186–188, 386 external integration tools, 548, 557
DSL modems, 259 extranets, 21, 54–55, 70, 108, 286, 402, 582
DSL. See digital subscriber line
DSS. See decision-support systems F
due process, 129, 132, 248
duplicated systems, 574 Facebook, 31, 57, 61, 101, 107, 109, 134–135, 137, 142, 290–292, 301,
dynamic pricing, 382, 384 396–400, 437–438, 446–447, 470, 584, 591–592

E facial recognition software, 158, 275
factors of production, 570, 573, 588
Earthlink, 262 Fair Information Practices (FIP), 132
e-business, 55 fault-tolerant computer systems, 323, 329
ECM. See enterprise content management feasibility study, 503
e-commerce, 7–8, 13, 116–117 federal privacy laws, 132
economic value, 24, 107 Feedback, 17
economies of scale, 175, 186, 270, 569–570, 574, 579, 588 Festi, 146
ecosystem strategic model, 108 Field, 213
Edge computing, 189 file organization, 213, 216
EDI. See Electronic Data Interchange File Transfer Protocol (FTP), 267–268
efficient customer response system, 96, 351 file, 213
e-government, 55, 132 file-sharing services, 63, 70, 141
Electronic business (e-business), 55 filtering software, 146
Electronic commerce (e-commerce), 55 filters, 146, 466–467, 484, 592
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), 401, 571, 583 financial crisis, 36, 38
electronic document retention policy, 311 financial models, 543
electronic records management, 308, 311, 328 Financial Services Modernization Act, 310
electronic surveillance, 270 financial services, 133–134
e-mail, 80–81, 93, 267, 478, 554 fingerprint identification devices, 318
embezzlement, 311, 313 FinTech, 392
employee relationship management (ERM), 353, 364 FIP. See Fair Information Practices
encrypted communications, 271 Firefox web browser, 190
encryption, 138, 226, 300, 307, 320–321, 325–326, 329 firewalls, 318–320, 329, 332
encyclopedia industry, 100 5G networks, 279
Endomondo, 102 Flash, 140, 191
End-user development, 514 flexibility, 206, 208
End-user interface, 513 forecasting, 234, 247, 354, 541
end-user, 67, 198, 506–514, 523–524, 538, 550 foreign key, 218–219, 224
enforcement of fair trade, 134 foreign trade, 11
enlarged world trade, 570 formal control tools, 548, 557
enterprise applications, 51, 69–70, 425, 447, 546–547 formal planning tools, 548, 557
enterprise content management (ECM), 439, 449, 452 4G networks, 279
enterprise content, 425, 439–440 franchisers, 573, 575, 588
enterprise resource planning (ERP), 53, 342, 541 fraud detection, 473
enterprise software, 61, 194–195, 342, 361, 526 free/freemium revenue model, 391
enterprise solutions, 361 FTP. See File Transfer Protocol
enterprise suites, 361
enterprise systems, 51, 53–54 G
enterprise-wide knowledge management systems, 426, 439, 449
Entity, 214 Galaxy, 139–140
entity-relationship diagram, 223–224, 242 Gantt chart, 548–549
GDSS. See group decision-support systems

I-9 Indexes hotspots, 281–282, 459, 584
HTML. See hypertext markup language
general controls, 312–313 HTML5, 191
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), 134 HTTP. See Hypertext Transfer Protocol
Genetic algorithms, 435 hubs, 255, 264, 286, 402
geoadvertising services, 405 Huddle, 52
Geographic information systems (GIS), 475 human capital management (HCM), 361, 442, 528–529
geoinformation services, 405, 410 human interface design, 583
geosocial services, 405 Hummingbird search, 275
global culture, 569, 571 hybrid cloud computing, 188
global markets, 569–570, 577, 588 Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), 191
global networks, 582, 588 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), 272
Global Positioning System (GPS), 251, 405, 453
global supply chain, 339, 350–351, 364, 568, 583 I
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), 279, 287
global systems, 566, 571, 574, 576–579, 581, 586–588 IaaS. See infrastructure as a service
global telecommunications, 574 IBM Cloud, 164, 183
global threats, 306 IBM Connections, 61, 64, 70, 75
global workforce, 529, 569, 583 IBM Notes, 61, 63–65, 70, 277
globalization, 11–12, 32, 70, 109, 350, 570–571 IBM PureData System, 229
Golden Rule, 130, 153 identity management, 316, 327–329
goods and service, 12, 15, 54–55, 84, 86, 90, 103, 148, 196, 278, 346, 375, identity theft, 303–304, 333–334
IIS. See Internet Information Services
385–386, 403–404, 406, 569, 571 IM. See instant messaging
Google Apps, 388 Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative, 130
Google Chrome, 156, 191 Implementation, 463, 545
Google Cloud Spanner, 225 imports, 10
Google Docs, 35, 63, 73, 115, 156, 185, 205, 245, 289, 332, 367, 386, 413, independent software developers, 179
indirect goods, 403
452, 486, 527, 559, 590 Industrial Internet, 487, 489
Google Drive, 35, 63, 73, 115, 156, 174, 188, 205, 245, 289, 292, 332, 367, industrial revolution, 11
inference engine, 429
413, 452, 486, 527, 559, 590 information age, 126
Google Hangouts, 267 Information asymmetry, 382
Google Maps, 73, 97, 182, 195 Information density, 381
Google Search, 136, 140, 235, 274–275, 291–292, 431, 584, 591 Information policy, 237
Google Sites, 35, 66, 73, 115, 156, 205, 245, 289, 332, 367, 388, 413, 452, Information requirements, 503
information resources, 147, 314, 316, 329, 440
486, 527, 559, 590 Information rights, 126
Google, 7, 12–13, 109, 115, 121, 127, 181–183, 185, 187–191, 195, 205, Information system, 16
Information systems audit, 315
225, 228–229, 247–248, 263, 265–268, 272–277, 290–292, 373–378, Information systems department, 66
384, 386–389, 391, 394, 398, 405–406, 413, 427, 431, 436, 438, Information systems literacy, 18
452–453, 467, 486, 488, 527, 559, 584, 590–592 Information systems managers, 66
governance, 67–68, 196–197, 202, 237–238, 263, 552, 565–566, Information systems plan, 538
573–574 information systems project, 534–538
GPS. See Global Positioning System Information technology (IT) infrastructure, 22
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, 132–133, 310, 328 information technology (IT), 16, 22, 36, 165, 536
grand design approach, 578 Information, 16
graphical user interface, 191, 517–518 informational role, 465–466
green computing, 180, 189, 202 informed consent, 134, 137, 153
green IT, 189 infrastructure as a service (IaaS), 184, 185, 345
grocery delivery, 117–118 inheritance, 435, 509–510
group decision-support systems (GDSS), 481, 484 in-memory computing, 228–229, 242, 362, 368
Grupo Santander, 62 input controls, 312
GSM. See Global System for Mobile Communications Input, 17
Instagram, 98, 275, 584
H instant messaging (IM), 60, 267, 299
in-store experience, 79
hackers, 142, 146, 157, 206, 295–297, 299, 301–308, 318, 328, 333–335 insurance rates, 122
Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS), 229, 231 intangible benefits, 542–544, 556
Hadoop, 228 intellectual property rights, 126, 140
hard disk drives, 87, 311 Intellectual property, 138, 387
HCM. See human capital management Intelligence, 463
HDFS. See Hadoop Distributed File System intelligent agent software, 275
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), 132, Intelligent agents, 437
“Intelligent” techniques, 426
134, 310 internal integration tool, 547, 557
health risks, 149, 248 internal rate of return (IRR), 543
healthcare industry, 310, 419 internal supply chain processes, 347
healthcare, 124, 134, 152, 181, 190, 246, 305, 310, 362, 419, 471,

473–474, 480, 482–483, 487, 520, 528
heartbleed bug, 307
Hertz, 261
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), 191–192, 271, 287
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), 258, 272
high-speed Internet, 167, 171, 179, 262, 268, 282
HIPAA. See Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Indexes I-10

International Data Center (IDC), 227 local area network (LAN), 173–174, 175, 176, 179, 255, 256,
international information systems, 567–569, 580, 588 259–260, 299
Internet challenges to, 135
Internet communications, 175 location analytics, 474, 484
Internet Explorer, 136–137, 156, 191, 247 location-based services, 377, 378, 404–405, 521
Internet Information Services (IIS), 272 logical view, 217
Internet layer, 258 logistics system, 592
Internet of Things (IoT), 7, 101, 122, 133, 231, 252, 278, 285, 287, 301, long tail marketing, 393
Long Term Evolution (LTE), 279
362, 430, 459, 474, 488 LTE. See Long Term Evolution
Internet Protocol (IP), 258, 262, 286
Internet service providers (ISPs), 141, 262, 304 M
Internet services, 265, 267, 280, 287, 580–582
Internet, 21–22, 253–276, 278–282, 284–287, 289–292, 474, 569–570, MacBooks, 140
machine learning, 419–420, 427–438
580–584, 591–592 MAEs. See metropolitan area exchanges
Internet2, 266 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 445
Internet-based marketing, 570 mainframe computers, 22, 144, 167, 180, 191
interorganizational system, 54 Maintenance, 506
interpersonal role, 465–466 malicious software, 298, 299–302, 303, 305, 308
intranets, 21, 54–55, 70, 176, 286, 582, 588 malware, 146, 295–296, 297, 298, 299–301, 303, 305, 306,
intrusion detection systems, 318–320, 329
iOS, 178 318–319, 320, 326
IoT. See Internet of Things MAN. See metropolitan area network
IP. See Internet Protocol managed security service providers (MSSPs), 323
IPv6, 266 Management Information Systems (MIS), 18, 29, 47, 476
IRR. See internal rate of return management, 16–30
ISPs. See Internet service providers managerial roles, 464–466
IT governance, 68 manual labor, 149
IT. See information technology MapReduce, 229
iterative process, 435, 512 market creator, 378, 386, 388
Iterative, 512 Market entry costs, 380
market niche, 96–97, 100
J market space, 95
marketing, 19–20, 212–213, 228, 377–379, 405–407, 443, 572–575, 579
JAD. See joint application design marketplace, 12, 15, 74, 87, 89–90, 95, 106, 137, 140, 143–144, 167,
Java, 177, 190, 191, 202, 521
Jeopardy, 8, 435 182, 188, 224, 227, 282, 340, 352, 377–382, 388, 392, 400, 402–403,
joint application design (JAD), 517 422–423, 572, 591
Juniper Networks, 179, 320 mart, 227, 472–473
just-in-time, 7, 144, 348, 401 mashups, 191, 195, 197–198, 276
mass customization, 97
K massive open online courses (MOOCs), 441
Match.com, 391
Kant’s categorical imperative, 130 m-commerce, 386, 404–406, 591
key field, 218–219, 221, 505 MDM. See mobile device management
key performance indicators (KPIs), 478–479 media, 74–75, 591–592
keyloggers, 302 menu costs, 382, 384
keywords, 64, 137, 274, 276, 391, 399, 408, 441 Metcalfe’s Law, 173–174, 202
KMS. See knowledge management systems metropolitan area exchanges (MAEs), 264
Knowledge, 422 metropolitan area network (MAN), 260, 287
Knowledge base, 429 microblogging, 277
knowledge management systems (KMS), 51, 54 micromarketing, 570
Knowledge management, 423 micropayment systems, 391
knowledge work systems (KWS), 426, 444–445 microprocessing power, 171–173
Knowledge workers, 19 microprocessor chips, 11, 87, 177, 308
KPIs. See key performance indicators Microsoft Access, 34, 115, 218, 221, 482–483
KWS. See knowledge work systems Microsoft Dynamics, 211, 254
Microsoft Excel, 230, 477
L Microsoft Office, 16, 63, 175, 185, 201, 230, 241, 273, 285–286, 363–364,
448, 482, 514
Law of Mass Digital Storage, 173 Microsoft OneDrive, 63
learning management system (LMS), 441, 442 Microsoft Project, 551–553, 554
legacy systems, 37, 180, 187, 193, 340, 358, 368, 495, 534, 546–547, 586 Microsoft SharePoint, 61, 63, 555
legal liability, 308 Microsoft SQL, 218, 225
legislation, 16, 133, 134, 137, 138, 159, 239, 292, 305, 311, 455, 491 Microsoft Xbox Live, 391
legitimacy, 579 middle management, 19, 46, 47, 60, 462, 467, 475–476, 538
leisure time, 145 millions of instructions per second (MIPS), 171
liability, 50, 120, 124, 129, 142–143, 308, 571 minicomputers, 167
link farms, 276 mining, 231–232, 468–470
LinkedIn, 31, 69, 112, 201, 278, 301, 362, 378, 388, 396, 448, 584 MIPS. See millions of instructions per second
Linux, 16, 175, 177–179, 183, 190–191, 205, 255, 260, 581 mobile application development, 519–522
literacy, 18, 27 Mobile commerce (m-commerce), 386
LMS. See learning management system