Page 61 - Using MIS

Using Your Knowledge 29

Key terMS and ConCeptS

3D printing (additive Experimentation 8 People 11
manufacturing) 2 Five-component framework 11 Procedures 11
Abstract reasoning 8 Information 17 Software 11
Collaboration 8 Information system (IS) 11 Strong password 24
Computer hardware 11 Information technology (IT) 16 System 11
Computer-based information Management information systems Systems thinking 8
system 11 (MIS) 10
Data 11 Moore’s Law 5

MyMISLab ™
Go to mymislab.com to complete the problems marked with this icon .

uSInG your KnoWledGe

1-1. One of life’s greatest gifts is to be employed doing a. Over the lifetime of a system, many experts believe
work that you love. Reflect for a moment on a job that that the single most expensive component is peo-
you would find so exciting that you could hardly wait ple. Does this belief seem logical to you? Explain
to get to sleep on Sunday night so that you could wake why you agree or disagree.
up and go to work on Monday. b. Consider a poorly developed system that does
a. Describe that job. Name the industry, the type of not meet its defined requirements. The needs
company or organization for whom you’d like to of the business do not go away, but they do
work, the products and services they produce, and not conform themselves to the characteristics
your specific job duties. of the poorly built system. Therefore, something
b. Explain what it is about that job that you find so must give. Which component picks up the slack
compelling. when the hardware and software programs do
c. In what ways will the skills of abstraction, systems not work correctly? What does this say about the
thinking, collaboration, and experimentation fa- cost of a poorly designed system? Consider both
cilitate your success in that job? direct money costs as well as intangible person-
d. Given your answers to parts a through c, define nel costs.
three to five personal goals for this class. None of c. What implications do you, as a future business
these goals should include anything about your manager, take from parts a and b? What does
GPA. Be as specific as possible. Assume that you this say about the need for your involvement in
are going to evaluate yourself on these goals at the requirements and other aspects of systems devel-
end of the quarter or semester. The more specific opment? Who eventually will pay the costs of a
you make these goals, the easier it will be to per- poorly developed system? Against which budget
form the evaluation. Use Figure 1-3 for guidance. will those costs accrue?
1-2. Consider costs of a system in light of the five com- 1-3. Consider the four definitions of information pre-
ponents: costs to buy and maintain the hardware; sented in this chapter. The problem with the first
costs to develop or acquire licenses to the software definition, “knowledge derived from data,” is that
programs and costs to maintain them; costs to design it merely substitutes one word we don’t know the
databases and fill them with data; costs of developing meaning of (information) for a second word we
procedures and keeping them current; and finally, don’t know the meaning of (knowledge). The prob-
human costs both to develop and use the system. lem with the second definition, “data presented in