How have management information systems (MIS) and knowledge technology (IT) had such a profound impact on business in the past 10 years? Maybe the higher question to ask is has information technology changed business or has business actually created information technology within the past 10 years? Surprisingly, if we take a glance at business within the 1990s, it’s actually less about technology and more about competition: A continued specialize in increased productivity and efficiency has intensified competition and driven business toward technology. However, as Diana Farrell relates within the Harvard Business Review, “With the technology sector in shreds, quite a few believe that IT changed scarcely anything [in business] in the least.”
Today’s business owner or professional can tell that technology does after all play a key role within the day-to-day operations. In fact, some businesses not even have a tangible presence but rather exist only in cyber-land. The transformation from bricks-and-mortar businesses into e-businesses has leveled off but the role of technology and management information systems in business is undeniable. In this chapter we specialise in giving an summary of the essentials for today’s cyber- environment and technology-driven organizations and provides a specific focus to MIS.
