Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
'Information Technology is like fire. It has the power to transform or destroy companies.'
"All senior managers are making strategic decisions driven and enabled by the capabilities of information technology. Finally there is a clearly written and accessible book for senior managers to understand the underlying technologies that will drive their businesses. Senior managers should add this book to their management tool kit for daily reference in shaping competitive strategies."
Peter Weill, Director, Center for Information Systems Research, Sloan School of Management, MIT
Understanding IT: A Managers Guide
by Dave Aron and Jeffrey L Sampler offers you the opportunity to become familiar with not only information technologies of today, but also the technology of the future. Written in an engaging style, the book explains IT concepts with superb clarity. In this way it serves as the driving force that will enable you to successfully exploit existing technology and to realize the potential of emerging technologies in your organization.
". . . Now, more than ever, general managers must strive to understand technology, in order to ensure that it is well implemented in their organisations, and to inform their corporate strategy. We will continue to see those that succeed in this achieve greater success than those who treat IT as a black box and 'leave it to the IT department'. I have had to acquire my understanding of the IT sector through experience and application. I wish I'd had this book as the starting point in that process!"
David Levin, CEO, Symbian Ltd
Understanding IT: A Managers Guide is an ideal companion for general business managers and for students of management, particularly at MBA level.
"Enthusiasm for the subject shines through and helps make for a stimulating read."
Paul Blanchard, Principal Lecturer, Business School, Oxford Brookes University
The Authors
Dave Aron is a Strategy Consultant and a Teaching Fellow at London Business School.
Jeffrey L Sampler is Associate Professor of Information Management and Strategy at London Business School.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Understanding IT | i | ||
| Contents | vii | ||
| Foreword | xi | ||
| Acknowledgements | xiii | ||
| Preface Why general managers should understand more about IT | 1 | ||
| The challenge to markets and investors | 2 | ||
| The challenge to general managers | 3 | ||
| The solution – education | 4 | ||
| Purpose of the book | 4 | ||
| How to use the book | 6 | ||
| Introduction: The importance of informationtechnology | 7 | ||
| Concepts covered in this chapter | 7 | ||
| Questions to ponder before reading | 7 | ||
| A definition | 7 | ||
| Need for managers to understand | 8 | ||
| The opportunity of IT | 9 | ||
| The challenge of IT | 11 | ||
| Management perspectives | 13 | ||
| What a computer is | 15 | ||
| Concepts covered in this chapter | 15 | ||
| Questions to ponder before reading | 15 | ||
| A soft machine | 15 | ||
| Ubiquity | 16 | ||
| Scope of computers | 16 | ||
| A digital, electromagnetic medium (for now) | 17 | ||
| Components | 19 | ||
| Program execution | 21 | ||
| Layers | 22 | ||
| Management perspectives | 24 | ||
| How software works | 27 | ||
| Concepts covered in this chapter | 27 | ||
| Questions to ponder before reading | 27 | ||
| What is software? | 28 | ||
| The goals of an IT system | 29 | ||
| Machine code is tough | 31 | ||
| High-level languages | 32 | ||
| A comparison of current computer languages | 35 | ||
| Management perspectives | 39 | ||
| The role of networks and the Internet | 41 | ||
| Concepts covered in this chapter | 41 | ||
| Questions to ponder before reading | 41 | ||
| The purpose of networks | 41 | ||
| Networks for distributed processing | 42 | ||
| How networks work | 44 | ||
| Layers of a network | 45 | ||
| Types of network | 48 | ||
| The anatomy of the Internet | 51 | ||
| Management perspectives | 57 | ||
| The Web and e-commerce The transition from information superhighway to transaction superhighway | 59 | ||
| Concepts covered in this chapter | 59 | ||
| Questions to ponder before reading | 59 | ||
| Basic Web technologies | 60 | ||
| Advanced Web technologies | 62 | ||
| Computer security | 68 | ||
| Management perspectives | 78 | ||
| The mobile/multimodal Internet | 81 | ||
| Concepts covered in this chapter | 81 | ||
| Questions to ponder before reading | 81 | ||
| What is different about the mobile Internet? | 82 | ||
| Mobile Internet communications technologies | 88 | ||
| Architecture of the multimodal Internet | 95 | ||
| Security in the multimodal world | 99 | ||
| Management perspectives | 102 | ||
| The future of IT | 103 | ||
| Concepts covered in this chapter | 103 | ||
| A question to ponder before reading | 103 | ||
| A framework for understanding IT progress | 103 | ||
| Management perspectives | 121 | ||
| The near future | 123 | ||
| Concepts covered in this chapter | 123 | ||
| Questions to ponder before reading | 123 | ||
| Emerging technology 1: The xInternet and Web services | 124 | ||
| Emerging technology 2: Bluetooth PANs | 125 | ||
| Emerging technology 3: Wireless information devices (WIDs) | 127 | ||
| Emerging technology 4: Artificial intelligence | 131 | ||
| Other leading and bleeding edge technologies | 138 | ||
| Management perspectives | 142 | ||
| Concluding thoughts | 143 | ||
| Appendix I: Glossary of IT acronyms | 145 | ||
| Appendix II: Network communications speeds | 165 | ||
| Appendix III: Commonly used computer languages | 167 | ||
| Appendix IV: IT literacy test for managers | 169 | ||
| Objective | 169 | ||
| Questions | 169 | ||
| Answers | 171 | ||
| Appendix V: Some useful books | 174 | ||
| Index | 176 |