In this opening chapter, you read about management’s top
concerns and the information systems (ISs) they consider
most influential to their organizations. Understanding senior
management’s priorities is a smart starting point for
your career. You learn about the latest information technology
(IT) trends that are important across all industry
sectors—small and medium businesses (SMB), multinationals,
government agencies, healthcare, and nonprofits.
Faced with business challenges, as a manager you need to
implement IT solutions and track how well they improve
performance. Faced with the latest new technology, as a
manager you need to be able to determine whether to
invest in it and how to acquire or implement it.
create new markets and industries, to disrupt the way
work is done, and to make commerce more social and
mobile stems from the creativity and talent of managers—
not the capabilities of technology. Managers and workers
now need talents and skills that weren’t part of our
vocabulary five to ten years ago—or maybe five to ten
months ago.
The opening case describes how Kickstarter
responded to a universal business challenge facing entrepreneurs
and artists—getting enough start-up cash—with
crowdfunding.