Information technology (IT) refers to the hardware, software, and related system components that organizations use to create computerized information systems. IT has been a
major force in our current society and now influences our lives in many personal ways—for
example, when we use digital cameras to take pictures, access the Internet to make a
purchase or learn about something, or make phone calls to friends and family. It is perhaps
less clear that computer technology has also had profound influences on commerce. In
this information age, for example, fewer workers actually make products, and more of
them produce, analyze, manipulate, and distribute information about business activities.
These individuals are often called knowledge workers. Companies find that their success
or failure is often dependent on the uses or misuses of the information that knowledge
workers manage.