Pearson

Higher Nationals in Computing (Network Engineering)

Unit 7: Strategic Information Systems

UNIT GUIDE

Title: Unit 7 Strategic Information Systems

Unit code: A/615/1626

Credit value: 15

Level: 4

Unit Leader: Mohammad Rahman

Contents: Introduction ………………………………………………3

Learning outcomes ……………………………………..4

Essential Content………………………………………..4

Reading List & Useful Websites………………………5

Assessment Criteria……………………………………. 6

Assignment Briefs and Guidelines…………………..7

Proposed Outline of Programme………………………9

INTRODUCTION

Information is the most valuable resource that an organisation possesses. The effective gathering, protection, analysis, processing, and dissemination of information is vital to the success of any organisation. As globalisation and the 24-hour economy develop and increase, organisations must ensure that their information systems are reliable, efficient and able to cope with rapid change.

This unit introduces students to the importance of information to organisations. It will examine how systems can be used to support core business functions and enable organisations to be more productive and competitive within the global marketplace.

Students will be required to analyse the information needs of an organisation at different levels and within different functional areas. It is important that computing professionals are able to understand how an organisation works and how it uses information in order to be able to design, implement, maintain and manage secure information systems to support its operations.

Among the topics included in this unit are understanding organisations in terms of their information needs and the variances within different functional areas. Examination of different information systems at the operational, tactical and strategic levels will be required, in addition to evaluating their effectiveness and role in terms of decision making and gaining competitive advantage.

On successful completion of this unit students will have an insight into the types of systems and technologies available for effective information processing. Critical analysis will also be used to examine the integrated role that each of these play in contributing to the efficiency and competitiveness of organisations.

As a result, they will develop skills such as communication literacy, critical thinking, analysis, reasoning and interpretation, which are crucial for gaining employment and developing academic competence.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this Unit, students will be able to:

LO1 Analyse the information requirements of organisations.

LO2 Discuss the types of information systems that are used within all levels of an organisation.

LO3 Demonstrate the use of an information system to produce management information.

LO4 Evaluate the effectiveness of strategic information systems.

ESSENTIAL CONTENT

LO1 Analyse the information requirements of organisations.

Functional area information requirements:

Finance and accounts for payroll, pensions, supplier payments and invoicing etc.,

human resources e.g. employee records, personnel data, appraisals, CPD etc.,

stock control, sales, marketing, research and development, production,

distribution, IT, customer service and administration.

Information needs:

How different functional areas use and process data effectively, the integration

of data and information within an organisation.

Requirements analysis:

The inputs, outputs and processing activities; information distribution

requirements e.g. by location, department, individual/customer.

LO2 Discuss the types of information systems that are used within all levels of an organisation.

Information systems types:

Business information systems, decision support systems, management information systems, strategic/executive information systems, office information systems, transaction processing systems, expert systems, global information systems, data warehouse systems, enterprise systems, enterprise resource planning systems, integrated information systems.

Categories of information systems: Operational, tactical and strategic information systems.

Information and data:

Definition of information and data, sources of information, information requirements and the needs for information at different levels within an organisation; storing information and its importance with regard to security, accuracy and relevance; outputs e.g. payroll, invoicing, ordering, bookings, stock control, personnel records, goods tracking, decision-making, marketing, customer service.

LO3 Demonstrate the use of an information system to produce management information

Management information:

Reports e.g. sales report, college enrolment statistics, marketing analysis (brick v click), trends in the market, competition and market share.

Gathering information:

Defining requirements; establishing sources of information; defining other factors to be considered e.g. constraints and access to information.

Selecting information:

Analysis of information in terms of validity, accuracy, currency and relevancy; identifying and rationalising meaningful information from data sets.

Uses:

Proficiency in terms of accessing quality information that can be used for decision-making, problem-solving, predictions, trending and forecasting.

LO4 Evaluate the effectiveness of strategic information systems.

Models for strategic information systems:

Porters Competitive Advantage and Wiseman’s Strategic Planning Process.

Competitive advantage:

How can competitive advantage be measured and attributed to the implementation of a strategic information system?

Gaining competitive advantage:

Delivering a differentiated product or service; delivering a product or service at a lower cost; specific segmentation of the market e.g. targeted marketing to specific target audiences; innovative product or service design and implementation.

READING LIST & USEFUL WEBSITES

Textbooks

Peppard, J. (2016) The Strategic Management of Information Systems: Building a Digital Strategy. 4th Ed. John Wiley & Sons.

Robson, W. (1997) Strategic Management and Information Systems: An Integrated Approach. 2nd Ed. Financial Times/ Prentice Hall.

Ward, J. (2002) Strategic Planning for Information Systems. 3rd Ed. John Wiley & Sons.

Whitely, D. (2013) An Introduction to Information Systems. Palgrave Macmillan.

Journals

The Journal of Strategic Information Systems

Information Systems Journal

Websites

it.toolbox.com ToolBox.com “Strategic Information System Toolbox” (Wiki)

www.mbaknol.com MBA Knowledge Base

“Strategic Information Systems” (Article)

Links

This unit links to the following related units:

Unit 4: Database Design & Development

Unit 38: Database Management Systems

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Assessment Criteria
Pass	Merit	Distinction
LO1: Analyse the information requirements of organisations.	D1 Evaluate the inputs, outputs and processing activities of a selected organisation. D2 Differentiate between the function and purpose of information systems at different levels within an organisation.
P1 Discuss the information needs and requirements for the functional departments of an organisation. P2 Produce an input/output (I/O) diagram to represent the data and information requirements of a functional department.	M1 Compare and contrast different processing activities that occur within functional departments within an organisation.
LO2: Discuss the types of information systems that are used within all levels of an organisation.
P3 Describe the function of different information systems. P4 Discuss the information needs required at differing levels within an organisation.	M3 Analyse the effectiveness of information systems at the operational, tactical and strategic levels within an organisation.
LO3: Demonstrate the use of an information system to produce management information.	D3 Critique, with examples, how a given organisation can use information for effective decision-making and forecasting.
P5 Demonstrate the use of an information system for management reporting purposes. P6 Discuss the importance of an organisation having data and information that is current, valid and accurate.	M4 Analyse the constraints that an organisation can face when gathering data and information.
LO4: Evaluate the effectiveness of strategic information systems.	D4 Evaluate how strategic information systems can contribute to the competitiveness of organisations.
P7 Identify different models that can be applied to strategic information systems.	M4 Justify the ways in which an organisation can obtain competitive advantage within a global market.

ASSIGNMENT BRIEF AND GUIDANCE

Unit Number and Title	Unit 7 Strategic Information Systems
Academic Year	2021/2022
Unit Tutor	Mohammad Rahman
Assignment Title	Develop efficient information systems for an organisation
Assignment Number	Assignment 1 of 2
Issue Date	17th January 2022
Submission Dates	Assignment 1: 23:59 pm, 7th February 2022
IV Name & Date
Submission Format
Instructions Your submission will include two assessments, and both will be submitted on Moodle/Turnitin as a word-processed document. Assessment 1 will be in the form of an academic poster and assessment 2 in the form of an academic report, which will have a clear title page indicating the unit number, assignment title, the relevant activity being addressed, your name and student number.
Assignment 1 – to be completed and submitted on 7th February 2022 Unit Learning Outcomes
LO1: Analyse the information requirements of organisations.
Assignment Brief and Guidance
Assessment 1: An academic poster (1000-1500) word Strategic Information System Planning (SISP), including aligning business and IS/IT strategies, has been the conventional wisdom known for decades to academics and practitioners. Since the 1980s, many tools and models have been developed to facilitate strategic information system planning and implementation. These are development processes that define a set of steps for SISP or approaches that facilitate part of the SISP process. As a trainee, IT consultant in your organisation, your line manager have tasked you to create a poster detailing the information requirements for the organisation. The task includes identification and discussing the company’s critical success factors and primary objectives. The types of information might help evaluate these objectives. Create a mission statement that would be appropriate for your business. This will be demonstrated by Producing an input and output diagram to illustrate the requirements of Strategic Information System Planning by listing the roles and responsibilities of different functions of the organisation. A SWOT analysis should be incorporated within your poster presentation to detail Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). You will then compare and contrast the current system and identify specific control weaknesses that must be addressed by a new, improved system. As part of your Evaluation, prepare a document flowchart and a data flow diagram of the current system and different inputs and outputs activities that are processed through information system management.

Unit Number and Title	Unit 7 Strategic Information System
Academic Year	2021/2022
Unit Tutor	Mohammad Rahman
Assignment Title	Develop efficient information system for organisation
Assignment Number	Assignment 2 of 2
Issue Date	17th January 2022
	Assignment 2: 23:59 pm, 7th April 2022
IV Name & Date
Submission Format
Scenario Your submission is an academic report, which will have a clear title page indicating the unit number, assignment title, the relevant activity being addressed, your name and student number. You are expected to use external sources, and clearly reference these in your work. References should be added to the text (next to the quote or paraphrase), and also placed at the end in a references list, using Harvard Referencing style. You should also complete a bibliography to support all evidence. The recommended word count for each activity is 2000 to 2500 words, but you will not be penalised for exceeding this.
Assignment Brief and Guidance
LO2 Discuss the types of information systems that are used within all levels of an organisation. LO3 Demonstrate the use of an information system to produce management information. LO4 Evaluate the effectiveness of strategic information systems.
Assessment 2 scenario: An academic report (Approx. 2500-3000 words) Moving on fromyour previous task, your line manager has now assigned you to write a report by describing different functions of the information system within your organisation and discussing the needs of information at different levels. For example, a System database is considered the most important functional requirement. It will help the company to store all the important data. In addition, this process will also help the company to retrieve all the stored data. You will then analyse the information system and justify the importance of ensuring the information is valid, current and accurate. Thereafter, you will evaluate the effectiveness of strategic information system requirements for decision making. In terms of security, the developed system will not entertain any kind of peripheral device as it will crack down on such devices. The integration of the advanced information communication technology approaches will help to improve the degree of security of the associated software applications and hardware devices. As part of your report, you will discuss and use Core Competence analysis to identify your organisation fundamental strengths and attributes that are unparallel with the competitors.

PROPOSED OUTLINE OF PROGRAMME (subject to change)

Week 1 – Introduction to the Unit content and the Unit assessment,followed by anintroduction to strategic information system.

Week 2 – Produce an input/output (I/O) diagram.

Week 3 – LO1 – Presentation week.

Assignment 1 submission Deadline: 23:59 pm, 7^th February 2022

Reading week

Week 5 – Information need and function required at differing levels of an organisation.

Week 6 – Demonstrate the use of an information system.

Week 7 – Analyse the constraints that an organisation can face when gathering information.

Week 8 – Discuss the importance of having information that is current, valid and accurate.

Week 9 – Effective decision-making and forecasting of information data.

Week 10 – Identify different models that can be applied to strategic information systems.

Week 11 – Assignment workshop.

Assignment submission deadline: 23:59 pm, 7^th April 2022

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