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Reflection Essay 1

I have undergone through the tutorial and intently studied chapters 1 to 4. For this reasons, I currently have a deeper understanding of the following topics and concepts; components of Information Systems, Information Systems in organizational strategies, IS ethics and privacy and Information security. In this paper, I will reflect my comprehension of various concepts and issues highlighted in the chapters, and how they have impacted my view of the IT world.

One of the most relevant issue I have learned is the new dimension of management of information systems in an organization, compared to the traditional functions of the MIS departments. We can compare the role of the MIS to an organization to that of the heart to a body. The scope and understanding of MIS will be understood better if each component is defined individually. The first one is management. Management involves planning organizing, initiating and controlling operations. From this context, MIS’ job is facilitating the decision-making the framework, necessary for managing functions described, so as to achieve the business goals. The second component is information. Information is different from data, where data are just facts and figures taken from historical records for decision making. On the other hand, information is knowledge derived from facts for the purpose of effective functioning of business systems placed in the right context. Information facilitates reduction of uncertainties, regarding the course of action to take. Finally, the system concept of MIS describes optimization of output by an organization by connecting operating subsystems (Deepak, 2011).

Therefore, MIS focuses on organization-wide information, managerial control, and analysis, the decision-making process and a computer-based system. I can conclude that Management information systems are a set of inter-related procedures, using an organization’s information infrastructure, to generate and disseminate the sought after information.

Chapter one also discussed the impact of IT to any industry, organization, and the society. Information technology is dramatically transforming the business landscape. Although organizational strategies usually shape the use of IT, it is more often the other way round. IT directly and significantly impacts an organization's strategic options, culture, structure, management process, employees and the workplace. IT has also changed the society. I can point out examples such as improving life’s quality and healthcare.

I learned a lot from the second chapter, especially regarding business process improvement, re-engineering, and management. The business process reengineering concept means, rethinking and breaking down the existing processes, with an objective of reducing costs and improving productivity from the newly developed efficient processes. I think BPR has to be very necessary before a company initiates it due to its enormous risks and radical approach. I remember one of the most famous BPR undertaken was implemented by Ford. From articles, the CEO at the time Michael Hammer, proposed a radical idea, to eliminate the business invoice from their processes. This meant that a Ford buyer was no longer needed to send a purchasing order copy to the creditor management. The buyer rather registered order in the online database, where the storekeeper would check corresponding purchasing order in the computer system. This reengineering was very risky, but the larger the risk, the more the benefits. Ford profited drastically from this move, where they recorded 75% decrease in the workforce in the company’s accounts payable department (Alameemi, 2014). Business process improvement (BPI) is very different from BPR. BPI INVOLVES minimal variations in improving processes, for instance, the six sigma model in the manufacturing industry. BPI is a low-risk incremental approach that most companies prefer.

Ethics and privacy is a sensitive issue in IT. According to David Brin, when it comes to privacy and accountability in IT, people usually demand the former for themselves, while the latter for everyone else. In my opinion, the principles of data protection and privacy must be balanced on societal values such as national security, law enforcement, public health and environmental protection. Even if a person believes that data privacy is critical, he or she can still agree that collection and dissemination of certain data can promote the common good. From the textbook, IT ethical frameworks include utilitarian, fairness, rights and common good approaches. I think the common good approach outweighs the other approaches. For example, the research that was conducted to determine the side effects of various drugs that could have otherwise gone unnoticed required the collection and tracking of personal data in hospitals, so as to respond to the spread of diseases.

Information security has been an issue of major concern among organizations and consumers. Information security involves protection of data breaches, either through human errors or social engineering. Many international corporations have experienced data breaches, where billions of funds have been lost including valuable employees and customers information. A classic example of a data breach was Sony Entertainment’s hack. In 2014, a self-proclaimed Guardians of Peace group managed to breach the company’s information system, bringing their systems down. Resulting from the breach, claims were that the group stole 100 TB of data that contained salaries, SSN, movies and PINs of employees and associates of the organization. The data was posted on the internet within days. Sony underwent enormous losses regarding revenue and reputation. Organizations can learn from this particular incident on some of the critical controls that can utilize to avoid or minimize the impact of a hack in the case of occurrence (Sanchez, 2014). These controls include malware defenses, monitoring, encryption, administration credentials and appropriate incident responses.

References

Alameemi, A. (2014, March 12). Business Process Reengineering – Ford’s Accounts Payable Case Study. Retrieved from BPR wordpress: https://bprford.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/business-process-reengineering-fords-accounts-payable-case-study/

Deepak, K. (2011, June 9). CONCEPT, ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF MIS. Retrieved from Deep Read Blogspot: http://deepread.blogspot.co.ke/2011/06/concept-role-and-importance-of-mis.html

Sanchez, G. (2014, November 24). Case Study: Critical Controls that Sony Should. Retrieved from SANS Institute InfoSec: https://www.sans.org/reading-room/whitepapers/casestudies/case-study-critical-controls-sony-implemented-36022