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Module 1 – Case
Information Technology Systems as Socio-Technical Systems
Assignment Overview
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) provides integration of the management, sales, manufacturing, accounting, and inventory areas. The implementation of ERP systems involves changes in the core business functions to streamline the business processes. For effective ERP implementation, the firm must address its goals for the system and its business processes. Many firms want to be able to respond quickly to their changing market and to quickly reflect this in their business processes with near real-time data and speed order fulfillment.
Case Assignment
Go to SAP.com and review the SAP Portfolio of products. Select a solution that is of interest to you. Discuss how this SAP solution works within an organization and the benefit of a firm implementing such a solution. What are some of the disadvantages? Who are some of the competitors in the ERP area for SAP?
Assignment Expectations
As you analyze the SAP solution you selected, you may want to use a table to compare alternatives but be sure to add discussion to explain your conclusions regarding the SAP solution with advantages and disadvantages along with recommendations. This should take 3 to 4 pages.
You are required to make effective and appropriate use of in-text citations to the assigned readings and other source material to support your arguments. Please use the
Trident APA 7 Guide
– for proper formatting and style.
Module 1 – Resources
Information Technology Systems as Socio-Technical Systems
Required Reading
Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
– From LinkedIn Learning
Manufacturing BOMs and production orders
– From LinkedIn Learning
Learning the essentials of Salesforce
– From LinkedIn Learning
Manage customer relationships for free with HubSpot CRM
– From LinkedIn Learning
Optional Readings and Video
Read Chapters 2 and 3 in:
Business Information Systems
. (2020). The Saylor Foundation. www.saylorbooks.com. Creative Commons.
Read Chapter 1 in:
Information systems: A manager’s guide to harnessing technology
. (2020). University of Minnesota Publishing, Creative Commons Book Publisher Information – Information Systems (umn.edu).
Enterprise Systems:
Module Overview – Background
A critical area in the Management of Information Systems is to understand how Information Systems have become an integral part of how the firm performs its day-to-day operations and serves its customers. It is important that MSITM majors understand these organizational systems and their value to the firm.
Most organizations have an Information Systems department charged with ensuring that the Information Technology components are provided to keep the organization running. There are key organizational systems for the day-to-day operations of the enterprise: payroll, general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, marketing analysis, customer orders, inventory management, manufacturing, vendor orders, human resources, etc. Nearly every functional area of the business has its own requirements, and Information Systems must support these areas. This has created silos of information in the organization. The solution was to create enterprise systems that linked these operations together to allow for effective systems, where inventory is kept at the appropriate levels, customers have their orders filled, and the company turns a profit. Enterprise software such as SAP has enabled organizations to be more information-connected in terms of their key transaction systems. This requires an information infrastructure for support, which we will discuss in later modules.
The information from these interlinked systems then feeds decision-makers to allow them to have timely and accurate analytics for their short-term and long-term decision making. Information systems tools on the decision-making side interface with the firm’s database to provide dashboards of analysis and graphics to enable this decision making.
Thus, information systems collect, process, and disseminate this information. Computer-based technologies that work tirelessly to carry out the routine tasks of day-to-day operations and to collect and disseminate the data that is collected are used to power these information systems. Computer-based information systems have changed in form from computer systems that fill a large room to interconnected devices that are smaller and connected to storage, perhaps in the cloud, to enable access to cloud-based information by all types of devices, including hand-held devices. These networked devices enable information accessibility from any location.
Decision makers use information to achieve the organization’s goals, while the computer-based information systems need to be carefully architected to enable this information. Implementation of these systems must involve the decision makers to insure the systems capture the information they need. The strategic planning for these systems needs to be carefully considered in the context of the firm’s strategies to ensure that these projects will provide value congruent with the firm’s goals.
