Information system
[1] From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems comprise four components: task, people, structure (or roles), and technology.
"Information systems" is also an academic field of study about systems with a specific reference to information and the complementary networks of computer hardware and software that people and organizations use to collect, filter, process, create and also distribute data.
[8] An emphasis is placed on an information system having a definitive boundary, users, processors, storage, inputs, outputs and the aforementioned communication networks.
An information system can also be considered a semi-formal language which supports human decision making and action.
[22] Silver et al. (1995) provided two views on IS that includes software, hardware, data, people, and procedures.
The six components that must come together in order to produce an information system are:[26] Data is the bridge between hardware and people.
Each department or functional area within an organization has its own collection of application programs or information systems.
[citation needed] As the name suggests, each FAIS supports a particular function within the organization, e.g.: accounting IS, finance IS, production-operation management (POM) IS, marketing IS, and human resources IS.
In finance and accounting, managers use IT systems to forecast revenues and business activity, to determine the best sources and uses of funds, and to perform audits to ensure that the organization is fundamentally sound and that all financial reports and documents are accurate.
Recent research aims at enabling[30] and measuring[31] the ongoing, collective development of such systems within an organization by the entirety of human actors themselves.
[32] A specific case is the geographical distribution of the development team (offshoring, global information system).
Information management deals with the practical and theoretical problems of collecting and analyzing information in a business function area including business productivity tools, applications programming and implementation, electronic commerce, digital media production, data mining, and decision support.
[60] In a broad scope, information systems is a scientific field of study that addresses the range of strategic, managerial, and operational activities involved in the gathering, processing, storing, distributing, and use of information and its associated technologies in society and organizations.
[60] The term information systems is also used to describe an organizational function that applies IS knowledge in the industry, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.
One problem with that approach is that it prevents the IS field from being interested in non-organizational use of ICT, such as in social networking, computer gaming, mobile personal usage, etc.
Workers with management skills and an understanding of business practices and principles will have excellent opportunities, as companies are increasingly looking to technology to drive their revenue.
[68][69] Hevner et al. (2004)[70] categorized research in IS into two scientific paradigms including behavioural science which is to develop and verify theories that explain or predict human or organizational behavior and design science which extends the boundaries of human and organizational capabilities by creating new and innovative artifacts.
This is not always the case however, as information systems researchers often explore behavioral issues in much more depth than practitioners would expect them to do.
[78] In the last ten years, the business trend is represented by the considerable increase of Information Systems Function (ISF) role, especially with regard to the enterprise strategies and operations supporting.
The review processes are stringent, editorial board members are widely-respected and recognized, and there is international readership and contribution.
A number of annual information systems conferences are run in various parts of the world, the majority of which are peer reviewed.
