Table of Contents

Chapter 1  Fundamental of Information System
1.1  From Data to Information to Knowledge
1.2  Information Technology and Its Evolution
1.3  Information System
Chapter 2  Introduction to Business
2.1  What Is Business
2.2  Business Model
2.3  Business Process
2.4  Business Decision-making, Knowledge Management and Information
Chapter 3  The Modern Global Web-based Environment
3.1  The Global, Web-based Platform
3.2  New Globalization Shape on Business Processes
3.3  Information System Impacts on Business
3.4  Competitive Advantage and Information Strategy
Appendix A Build-to-order Production
Chapter 4  Business Information Systems
4.1  Managing Data
4.2  Data Warehousing
4.3  Evolution of Business Information Systems
4.4  Business Intelligence Constituencies
Chapter 5  Network Applications
5.1  A Brief Introduction of Network Applications
5.2  Web 2.0
5.3  E-learning and Distance Learning
5.4  Telecommuting
Chapter 6  Introduction to Electronic Commerce
6.1  Electronic Commerce: Definitions and Concepts
6.2  The EC Framework, Classification, and Content
6.3  EC Business Models
6.4  Benefits of EC
Chapter 7  Electronic Marketplaces
7.1  E-marketplaces
7.2  E-marketplaces: from Storefronts to Portals
7.3  Intermediation in E-commerce
7.4  Electronic Catalogs and Other Market Mechanisms
7.5  Auctions as EC Market Mechanisms
7.6  One-to-many: Sell-side E-marketplaces
7.7  One-from-many: Buy-side E-marketplaces and E-procurement
7.8  Many-to-many: Electronic Exchanges
Chapter 8  E-marketing and Advertising
8.1  Learning About Consumer Behavior Online
8.2  The Consumer Decision-making Process
8.3  One-to-one Marketing, Loyalty, and Trust in EC
8.4  Market Research for EC
8.5  Web Advertising
8.6  Advertising Methods
Chapter 9  Wireless, Mobile Commerce
9.1  Wireless Technologies
9.2  Wireless Computer Networks and Internet Access
9.3  Mobile Computing and Mobile Commerce
9.4  Pervasive Computing
9.5  Wireless Security
Chapter 10  Economics and Strategy of Electronic Commerce
10.1  Methods and Tools for Evaluating EC Investments
10.2  The Economics of EC
10.3  EC Strategy
Chapter 11  Security Issues in Business Information System
11.1  System Vulnerability and Abuse
11.2  Establishing a Framework for Security and Control
11.3  Technologies and Tools for Protecting Information Resources
Chapter 12  Ethical and Social Issues in Business Information System
12.1  Ethical and Social Issues Related to Systems
12.2  Ethics in an Information Society
12.3  The Moral Dimensions of Information Systems
References
 

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Complex Information Technologies Players
It can be seen that the modern information and communication industry is a perhapsuniquely complex one。 A preliminary distinction may be drawn between the producers ofdifferent types of communication goods and services, but in practice there is an increasingtrend towards the integration of firms across categories。 Each of these categories will beconsidered in turn, before the issues raised by the structural changes occurring atlightning pace within the industry are considered。
The role of hardware suppliers seems, on the face of it, a straightforward one whichhas, seemingly, much in common with old-fashioned nineteenth-century industrialmanufacturing operations。 Raw materials may be presumed to come in the gates at oneend of the works to emerge from the production line some time later as goods to be soldto consumers, the price of the goods reflecting the high cost of the sophisticated labour,machinery and materials employed。 These assumptions are, however, largely false。
So-called original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of, say, personal computers arelargely assemblers of components such as silicon chips, hard drives, equipment cases,cathode ray tubes, etc。 The components will commonly have come from numerous countriesand several continents。 Some components will be from other manufacturers who may bethought of as being within the industry; others may come from general engineering or plasticmoulding suppliers, for example。 The value of the product often has little relation to the costof materials, labour or even what may be colossally expensive machinery。 Instead the value ofthe product will frequently depend upon the originality of its design and its usefulness to thebuyer, who may well be another manufacturer or a supplier of information services。
It is worth highlighting that the technology--and hence the manufacturing techniques--employed is constantly changing so that, for instance, the manufacturing of televisions,telephones, and computers, which once were clearly separate products, is now clearly anoverlapping set of processes sharing components, suppliers and customers。
The category of software suppliers is obviously a much newer one than that ofhardware manufacturers。 It too can be easily misinterpreted。 It may evoke the image of asmall group of millionaire teenage "geeks" overdosing on Coca-Cola in an air-conditioned"campus" in Silicon Valley California, producing computer games for PC fanatics across theworld。 Such operations do exist, but most software houses differ from this in severalrespects。 For instance, many software houses are now in India, which has produced fewe-commerce millionaires。 Many software operations are now tied commercially to hardwaremanufacturers, e。g。 games producers may be tied to console manufacturers, or operatingsystem developers to specific OEMs。 Other software operations may be serving the needs ofa specific industry and have close links to them。 Thus an aircraft manufacturer may takeover a supplier of aircraft simulation software。 Many software suppliers are engaged in thedevelopment of "bespoke" software for specific firms to meet specific needs。 For example,the British firm, Sage, specializes in the production of accounting software。
Information services providers constitute a new and varied group。 It could be arguedthat the oldest established members of this category are the libraries, which are still keyorganizations in modern societies。 But if we concentrate on the idea of the coordination ofmodern information systems for other organizations as being the characteristic of thisgroup, then it still covers some interesting and varied enterprises。
With the development of relatively standardized PCs and sophisticated fourth-generationapplications programs, such an approach is increasingly rare and often redundant。 New firmshave arisen and often focus on customizing a range of specialist software-perhaps a databaseproduct such as Oracle, or accounting or telesales products。 In many cases hardwaremanufacturers such as IBM or software houses may run their own sales operations offering"total solutions" to clients' problems。 For the client, the choice of adviser may be a difficult one。An independent consultant may be able to save money by suggesting combinations ofproducts from different sources, but may be reluctant to accept responsibility if a part of thesystem is not actually supplied by them。 An adviser tied to a particular hardware or softwareproduct may be "free" and wholly responsible for its success or failure, but his or her solutionmay well be unnecessarily expensive and elaborate。
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