Review Questions
1. How are information systems transforming
business, and what is their relationship to
globalization?
• Describe how information systems have
changed the way businesses operate and their
products and services.
• Identify three major new information system
trends.
• Describe the characteristics of a digital firm.
• Describe the challenges and opportunities of
globalization in a “flattened” world.
2. Why are information systems so essential for
running and managing a business today?
• List and describe six reasons why information
systems are so important for business today.
3. What exactly is an information system? How
does it work? What are its management, organization,
and technology components?
• Define an information system and describe
the activities it performs.
• List and describe the organizational, management,
and technology dimensions of information
systems.
• Distinguish between data and information and
between information systems literacy and
computer literacy.
• Explain how the Internet and the World Wide
Web are related to the other technology
components of information systems.
4. What are complementary assets? Why are
complementary assets essential for ensuring that
information systems provide genuine value for
an organization?
• Define complementary assets and describe
their relationship to information technology.
• Describe the complementary social, managerial,
and organizational assets required to
optimize returns from information technology
investments.
5. What academic disciplines are used to study
information systems? How does each contribute
to an understanding of information
systems? What is a sociotechnical systems
perspective?
• List and describe each discipline that contributes
to a technical approach to information
systems.
• List and describe each discipline that contributes
to a behavioral approach to information
systems.
• Describe the sociotechnical perspective on
information systems.