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Students Zone / Glossary and Index
The combined Glossary and Index taken from the book
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
| A | Term | Definition |  |
Pages in book |
| Acceptance Testing | Conducting any tests required by the user to ensure that the user community is satisfied with the system | 366, 373, 374 | ||
| Action Perspective | The perspective on organisations that focuses on the process of organising | 219, 224-6 | ||
| Activity-based Project Management | A form of project management in which planning and control is conducted in terms of project activities | 444-5 | ||
| Adaptive Maintenance | Changes made to the information system to provide a closer fit between an information system and its environment, the human activity system | 203, 379 | ||
| Agent | An agent is something (usually a person, group, department or organisation but possibly some other information system) that is a net originator or receiver of system data | 48,101-2 | ||
| Aggregation | This type of relationship serves to collect together a set of different classes into one unit or aggregate. | 106-7,449, 454 | ||
| Analysis | See Systems Analysis | - | ||
| Application | A term generally used as a synonym for an IT system or some other piece of software designed to perform a particular function | 128, 131 | ||
| Application Service Provider | A company supplying a software service as an application | 533 | ||
| Application Software | Software designed for a particular set of tasks in an organisation | 131 | ||
| Assembly Language | A second-generation programming language above machine code | 126 | ||
| Association | An association relationship establishes a connection between the instances of classes and is defined by cardinality and optionality | 103, 106, 107, 454 | ||
| Authority | Authority is legitimated power in that those over whom it is exercised accept the exercise of power | 36-7, 229 | ||
| B | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| B2B | Business to business. See Supply Chain | - | ||
| B2B E-commerce | The use of E-Commerce in the supply chain | 488-90 | ||
| B2B IOS | An inter-organisational information system used to connect businesses together | 492 | ||
| B2C | Business to customer. See Customer Chain | - | ||
| B2C E-Commerce | The use of E-Commerce in the customer chain | 490 | ||
| B2C IOS | An inter-organisational information system used to connect businesses to customers | 492 | ||
| Behavioural Modelling | That form of information systems modelling concerned with specifying the behaviour of the information system | 100-2 | ||
| Bespoke Development | In bespoke development an organisation builds an information system to directly match with the requirements of the organisation | 317 | ||
| Bit | An abbreviation of binary digit - one of the two digits (0 and 1) used in binary notation | 120 | ||
| Business Case | The case made for the utility of some information system | 315, 329-32 | ||
| Business Process | See Organisational Process | - | ||
| Business Process Re-engineering | An organisational analysis approach to re-designing business processes | 245-6 388-94 | ||
| Business Strategy | See Organisation Strategy | - | ||
| Buyer-Oriented B2B | Consumer opens electronic market on its own server and requests bids | 522 | ||
| Byte | A set of eight binary digits/bits | 120 | ||
| C | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| CAISE | See Computer Aided Information Systems Engineering | - | ||
| Cardinality | Cardinality establishes how many instances of one entity are related to how many instances of another entity | 103-4 | ||
| CATWOE | A framework for specifying Root Definitions in Soft Systems Method | 395-6 | ||
| Chain of Command and Control | This refers to the relationships of power and authority established in the organisation between its members | 229 | ||
| Character Set | A scheme for representing symbols in binary notation | 125 | ||
| Chief Information Officer | A term for executive level manager in the organisation responsible for informatics | 408, 463 | ||
| CIO | See Chief Information Officer | - | ||
| Class | See Object Class | - | ||
| Client-Server | An applications architecture in which the processing is distributed between machines acting as clients and machines acting as servers | 161-3 | ||
| Communication Channel | The medium along which messages travel | 40-1 | ||
| Communication Software | Software enabling the inter-connection of computer systems | 147-9 129-30 | ||
| Communication Subsystem | That part of an IT system enabling distribution of the processing around a network | 121, 161 | ||
| Communication Technology | Technology used for communication | 146-57 | ||
| Competitive Position | An organisation takes up a particular position in a market defined by its activities and relationships with its competitors, suppliers, customers and regulators | 260, 285-6 | ||
| Computer Aided Information Systems Engineering | Information technology has been used to aid automated aspects of the development process | 325-6 | ||
| Concept | The idea of significance. The collection of properties that in some way characterise the phenomena | 98-9 | ||
| Conception | See Systems Conception | - | ||
| Conceptual Model | A conceptual model represents some Universe of Discourse but contains little or no implementation detail | 100 | ||
| Configuration Management | The process of controlling the changes made to an information system over time | 380-1 | ||
| Consensus Participation | A design group is formed as in representative participation, but representatives are elected by staff and given the responsibility to communicate group decisions back to staff | 359 | ||
| Construction | See Systems Construction | - | ||
| Consultative Participation | Decision-making is still in the hands of systems analysts and systems designers, but there is a great deal of staff at every level consulted about such decision-making | 359 | ||
| Control | Control is the mechanism that implements adaptation in most systems | 49-50 | ||
| Corrective Maintenance | Changes made to correct previously unidentified system errors | 379 | ||
| Correspondence Failure | Lack of correspondence between objectives and evaluation | 204 | ||
| Cost Advantage | This essentially aims to establish the organisation as a low-cost leader in the market | 260-1, 423 | ||
| Cost-Benefit Analysis | Cost-benefit analysis is critical to assessing whether or not the process of developing an IS is a worth-while investment | 332-5 | ||
| Critical Success Factor | A factor which is deemed crucial to the success of a business | 404-5 | ||
| Culture | The set of behaviours expected in some social group | 12, 35, 235-42 | ||
| Customer Chain | The chain of activities that an organisation performs in the service of its customers | 22, 248-50 499-500 | ||
| Customer Relationship Management | The set of activities devoted to managing the customer chain | 82, 504-5 | ||
| Customer Resource Life-Cycle | A strategic planning framework due to Ives and Learmonth. Also useful in defining elements of the customer chain | 406-7 | ||
| Customer-Facing TPS | Transaction processing systems that interface with the customer | 82 | ||
| D | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Data | Sets of symbols | 134-43 | ||
| Database | An organised pool of logically related data | 139 | ||
| Database Management system (DBMS) | A suite of comuter software providing the interface between users and a database or databases | 140 | ||
| Data Flow | A data flow is a pipeline through which packets of data of known composition flow | 101 | ||
| Data Management | The set of facilities needed to manage data | 139 | ||
| Data Management Layer | That part of an IT system concerned with data management | 139 | ||
| Data Mining | Data mining is the process of extracting previously unknown data from large databases and using it to make organisational decisions | 456-7 | ||
| Data Model | An architecture for data or a blueprint of data requirements for some application | 140-1 | ||
| Data Privacy | Ensuring the privacy of personal data | 296-8 | ||
| Data Protection | The activity of ensuring data privacy | 296-8 | ||
| Data Store | A data store is a repository of data | 76, 101 | ||
| Data Subsystem | That part of an IT system concerned with managing the data needed by the application | - | ||
| Data Type | A categorisation of data defining the format and operations for data | 138 | ||
| Data Warehouse | A data warehouse is a type of contemporary database system designed to fulfill decision-support needs. It utilises large amounts of data from diverse data needs to fulfil multi-dimensional query | 142, 456-7 | ||
| Datum | A unit of data | 4 | ||
| DBMS | See Database Management System | - | ||
| Decision Support Database | Databases used to support organisational decision-making | 142 | ||
| Decision Support System | DSS. See Executive Information System | - | ||
| Decision-Making | Decision-making is the activity of deciding on appropriate action in particular situations | 87-93 | ||
| Design | See Systems Design | - | ||
| Designation | See Symbol | - | ||
| Development Failure | Failure of an information system project while in development | 202-3, 210 | ||
| Development Method | A specified approach for producing information systems | 322-3 | ||
| Development Process | That human activity system concerned with developing an information system | 311-19 | ||
| Differentiation Strategy | The organisation undertaking this strategy aims to differentiate its product or service from its competitors | 260 | ||
| Digital Convergence | The convergence around the digital standard allowing inter-operability of such technologies on the global scale | 294-5 | ||
| Direct Conversion | An implementation approach in which the new system directly replaces the old system | 372 | ||
| Dis-intermediation | The process avialable though electronic markets of enabling companies to sell directly to customers | 483, 494 | ||
| Division of Labour | This is the way in which tasks and responsibilities are assigned to members of the organisation | 229, 461-3 | ||
| Document Flow | This represent the flow of physical (normally paper-based) documentation such as invoices, orders and contracts | 251 | ||
| Document Store | This represents a place where physical documentation accumulates such as a filing cabinet | 251 | ||
| E | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| E-Business | The conduct of business using information and communication technology. A superset of E-Commerce. | 22, 289-90 481-96 510-16 | ||
| E-Commerce | Electronic Commerce. The conduct of business to business commerce using information technology such as that supporting the Internet | 22, 289-90 481-96 498-508 519-25 | ||
| Economic Environment | The markets within which an organisation competes. An economic system is the way in which a group of humans arrange their material provisioning | 14, 281-90 | ||
| EDI | Electronic Data Interchange. A set of standards for the transfer of electronic documentation between organisations | 22, 76, 488, 524 | ||
| Efficacy | See Utility | - | ||
| EIS | See Executive Information System | - | ||
| Electronic Government | The use of ICT to enable government administrative processes | 304-5 | ||
| Electronic mail. The transmission and receipt of electronic text messages using communication networks | 197, 515 | |||
| E-Market | An e-market is a market in which economic exchanges are conducted using information technology and computer networks | 482-4 | ||
| Empirics | Branch of semiotics concerned with the physical characteristics of the communication channel | 35, 40-2 147-8 | ||
| Employee-facing TPS | Transaction processing systems that interact with employees of an organisation | 83 | ||
| End-User | That stakeholder group which uses an information system to conduct work | 183, 342, 462 | ||
| Enterprise Resource Planning System | A software package consisting of a set of IT systems which integrate to form an infrastructure for some company | 166, 269 | ||
| Entity | Some aspect of the 'real world' which has an independent existence and can be uniquely identified | 103 | ||
| Entity Model | A model of the entities, relationships and attributes pertaining to some application | 103 | ||
| Entity Modelling | See Entity-Relationship Diagramming | - | ||
| Entity Type | See Entity | - | ||
| Entity-Relationship Data Model | A data model, orginally propose by P.P.S. Chen, which utilises three primary constructs: entities, relationships and attributes | 322, 324 | ||
| Entity-Relationship Diagramming | A technique for graphically representing a conceptual model using constructs fron the entity-relationship data model | 322,324 | ||
| Environment | Anything outside the organisation from which an organisation recieves inputs and to which it passes outputs | 14-15, 47 281-307 | ||
| Epistemology | The theory of knowledge | 559-60 | ||
| E-R Diagramming | See Entity-Relationship Diagramming | - | ||
| ETHICS | Mumford's socio-technical design method | 356-8 | ||
| Executive Information System | EIS. That type of information system designed to support high-level, strategic decision-making in organisations | 69, 92-3 | ||
| Expectation Failure | The inability of an IS to meet a specific stakeholder group's expectations | 204 | ||
| Explicit Knowledge | This is readily accessible, documented and organised knowledge | 450 | ||
| Extension | See referent | - | ||
| External Tele-Democracy | Used to refer solely to the enablement of democratic processes between members of some political grouping and their governmental representatives | 304-6 | ||
| Extranet | Allowing access to aspects of an organisation's intranet to accredited users | 155-6 512-13 523-4 | ||
| F | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Fact | A positive assertion about some UoD | - | ||
| Feasibility Study | That part of systems conception concerned with assessing the feasibility of developing some information system | 336 | ||
| File | An element of physical data organisation | 137 | ||
| Firewall | A collection of hardware and software placed between an organisation's internal network and an external network such as the internet | 155-6 | ||
| Five Forces Model | A strategic planning framework due to Porter and Millar | 261, 405-6 | ||
| Formalism | See representation formalism | - | ||
| Formative Evaluation | That form of information systems evaluation concerned with monitoring the developing functionality and usability of some product | 21, 474-5 | ||
| Fourth Generation Language | A high-level programming language used to develop an information system | 325 | ||
| Fragmentation | A measure of the degree to which data and processing is fragmented amongst information systems | 413 | ||
| Fragmented Adhocracy | Term used by Banville and Landry to describe a discipline in which strategic dependence is low, task uncertainty is high and functional dependence is low | 550 | ||
| Functionality | The functionality of an information system is what an information system does or should be able to do | 8 | ||
| G | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| General Systems Theory | An endeavour which attempted to study the properties and behaviour of all systems | 45 | ||
| Generalisation | This type of relationship establishes levels of abstraction between object classes. | 106-7 | ||
| Giga-Bytes | 1,000,000,000 bytes (billion) | 120, 137 | ||
| Global Information System | An information system that operates across the globe | 238 | ||
| Globalisation | The process by which organisations are operating across the globe | 260, 288, 494 | ||
| Grammar | Rules that control the correct use of a language | 34, 40 | ||
| H | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Holistic Thinking | Thinking which studies the properties of whole systems rather than its parts | 45-6 | ||
| Horizontal Portal | These portals attempt to serve the entire Internet community, typically by offering search functions and classification for the whole of Web content | 484 | ||
| HTML | Hypertext Markup Language. A standard for marking up documents to be published on the WWW | 154, 525 | ||
| HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol. An object-oriented, stateless protocol that defines how information can be transmitted between client and server | 153 | ||
| Human Activity System | A human activity system is a logical collection of activities performed by some group of people | 4-5, 66, 84-5 348-51 354-6, 367 | ||
| Human Activity System Design | Design which includes jobe design, team design and procedure design | 361-8 | ||
| Hybrid Implementation | This form of implementation phases in particular components as replacements or pilots major modules of the system | 373 | ||
| I | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| I-Commerce | The use of Internet technologies in support of E-Commerce | 484-6 | ||
| Illocutionary Act | A type of speech act that expresses intention | 240-1 | ||
| Implementation | See Systems Implementation | - | ||
| Implicit Knowledge | Knowledge accessible through querying and discussion but needing communication | 450 | ||
| Inconsistency | A measure of the degree to which data is held or processed differently across information systems | 413 | ||
| Informatics | Informatics is the study of information, information systems and information technology applied to various phenomena. | 1-27 | ||
| Informatics Architecture | A specification of the information, information systems and information technology needed by some organisation | 264-74 | ||
| Informatics Field | The academic study of informatics issues and problems | 548-56 | ||
| Informatics Infrastructure | An informatics infrastructure consists of the sum total of information, information systems and information technology resources available to the organisation at any one time | 264-74 | ||
| Informatics Managment | The process of putting information, information systems and information technology plans into action | 20-1 431-9 | ||
| Informatics Planning | The process of defining the optimal informatics architecture for some organisation | 18-20, 399-410 | ||
| Informatics Practice | The practical application of informatics knowledge and skill within organisations | 531-6 | ||
| Informatics Profession | The bodies exercising control over informatics practice | 537-47 | ||
| Informatics Research | Appropriate ways of creating new knowledge in the area of informatics | 557-8 | ||
| Informatics Service | That organisational function devoted to the delivery of informatics services | 460-70 | ||
| Informatics Strategy | A definition of the structure within which information, information systems and information technology is to be applied in some organisation | 19-20, 261 411-20 | ||
| Information | Information is data interpreted in some meaningful context | 4 | ||
| Information Architecture | This consists of definitions of information need and activities involved in the collection, storage, dissemination and use of information within the organisation | 19, 267 435 | ||
| Information Centre | A structure for the informatics service in which the service acts as a centre of expertise for other business units | 462-3 | ||
| Information Economics | Information Economics attempts to include the evaluation of intangible as well as tangible benefits into the process of IS evaluation | 334-5 | ||
| Information Economy | An economy in which information is both important and essential to the effective performance | 287-90 | ||
| Information Infrastructure | See Information Architecture | - | ||
| Information Management | That part of informatics management concerned with the management of information | 431-9 | ||
| Information Security | The process of protecting information systems from criminal or unwanted activity | 294 | ||
| Information Strategy | That part of an informatics strategy concerned with specifying the information need for the future within some organisation | 412, 414-16 | ||
| Information System | An information system is a system of communication between people. Information systems are systems involved in the gathering, processing, distribution and use of information. | 4 | ||
| Information Systems Architecture | This consists of the information systems needed to support organisational activity in the areas of collection, storage, dissemination and use | 19, 267 | ||
| Information Systems Development | The process of developing some information system | 15-17, 311-20 | ||
| Information Systems Infrastructure | See Information Systems Architecture | - | ||
| Information Systems Management | The process of managing the current information systems architecture and implementing the information systems strategy | 20, 432-7 | ||
| Information Systems Planning | The process of defining some information systems architecture | 399-410 | ||
| Information Systems Portfolio | A list of current systems in the information systems architecture or future systems in the information systems strategy | 416-17 | ||
| Information Systems Strategy | That part of an informatics strategy concerned with specifying the future control of an information systems infrastructure and implementation of new elements of this infrastructure | 261, 412, 416-17 | ||
| Information Technology | Information technology is any technology used to support information gathering, processing, distribution and use. Information technology consists of hardware, software and communications technology. | 113-170 | ||
| Information Technology Architecture | This consists of the hardware, software, data and communication facilities as well as the IT knowledge and skills available to the organisation | 19, 267 | ||
| Information Technology Infrastructure | See Information Technology Architecture | - | ||
| Information Technology Strategy | The process of managing the current IT architecture and implementing the IT strategy | 261, 412 417-18 436 | ||
| Information Technology System | An information technology system is a technical system sometimes referred to as a 'hard' system. An information technology system is an organised collection of hardware, software and communications technology designed to support aspects of some information system. | 5-6, 158-170 365-7 | ||
| Input | The elements that a system takes from its environment | 4, 48, 118 | ||
| Input Device | A device concerned with the input of data | 118 | ||
| Input Subsystem | That part of a computer system concerned with the input of data | 118 | ||
| Institutional Perspective | That perspective on the organisation that treats them as wholes or units | 219-24 | ||
| Instruction Set | A list of instructions understood by the processor of some computer system | 125 | ||
| Integration Testing | At some point the system has to be assembled as a complete unit and testing conducted of all related systems together | 366 | ||
| Intension | See Concept | - | ||
| Interaction Failure | The argument is that if a system is heavily used it constitutes a success; if it is hardly ever used, or there are major problems involved in using a system then it constitutes a failure | 204 | ||
| Interface Subsystem | That part of an IT system concerned with managing the user interface | 160 | ||
| Intermediary-oriented B2B | Intermediary runs an electronic market for buyers and sellers in a specific area | 522-3 | ||
| Internal Tele-Democracy | The way in which information and communications technology (ICT) can be used to improve internal democratic processes within government. | 304-5 | ||
| Internet | A set of inter-connected computer networks distributed around the globe | 152-5, 481-526 | ||
| Internet Service Provider | ISP. A company supplying connections to the Internet | 150, 533 | ||
| Inter-Operability | A measure of the degree to which information systems are able to coordinate and collaborate | 413 | ||
| Inter-Organisational Information System | That form of information system that is developed and maintained by a consortium of companies in some cognate area of business for mutual benefit | 491-2 | ||
| Interpretivism | A philosophical position which assumes a subjective reality that should be studied through interpretive immersion and description | 559-60 | ||
| Intra-business E-Business | The use of ICT to enable the internal business processes of the firm | 487, 490-1 510-18 | ||
| Intranet | The use of internet technology within a single organisation | 155-6 512-16 | ||
| IS Development Method | These constitute frameworks which prescribe, sometimes in great detail, the tasks to be undertaken in a given development process | 322-7 | ||
| IS Evaluation | The process of evaluating the worth of some information system | 471-7 | ||
| Iterative Development | In this model systems conception triggers an iterative cycle in which various versions of a system (prototypes) are analysed, designed, constructed and possibly implemented | 495 | ||
| J | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Job Analysis | Job analysis involves the analysis of the content and relationships of current jobs in terms of both organisational and individual objectives | 349-51 | ||
| K | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Kilo-Byte | 1000 bytes | 120, 137 | ||
| Knowledge | Knowledge is derived from information by integrating information with existing knowledge. This may be represented as knowledge = object + relation + object | 449 | ||
| Knowledge Codification | The representation of knowledge for ease of retrieval | 451 | ||
| Knowledge Creation | The acquisition of knowledge from organisational members and the creation of new organisational knowledge | 451 | ||
| Knowledge Management | Knowledge management consists of knowledge creation, knowledge codification and knowledge transfer | 448-59 | ||
| Knowledge Management Systems | A group of information technologies used for managing knowledge within organisations | 453-6 | ||
| Knowledge Transfer | The communication and sharing of knowledge amongst organisational members | 451 | ||
| L | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Language Action Approach | An approach to information systems specification based on the concept of speech acts | 239-40 | ||
| Linear Development | The phases of development are strung out in a linear sequence with outputs from each phase triggering the start of the next phase | 317-18 | ||
| Local Area Network | LAN. A type of communication network in which the nodes of the network are situated relatively close together | 151 | ||
| Location Strategy | A location strategy involves the organisation attempting to find a niche market to service | 260 | ||
| Logical Data Representation | The form of data representation primarily used by computer software | 135-6 | ||
| Logical Model | An implementation-independent model | 100 | ||
| Logical Modelling | The process of producing logical models | 100 | ||
| M | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Machine Code | The lowest level of programming language | 126 | ||
| Main Memory | See Primary Storage | - | ||
| Maintenance | See Systems Maintenance | - | ||
| Management Information System | MIS. A type of information system supporting the tactical decision-making of managers | 69 | ||
| Market | A market is a medium for exchanges between buyers and sellers | 283-6, 482-4 | ||
| Mass Deployment Database | Databases used on the desktop | 143 | ||
| Mega-Byte | 1,000,000 bytes (million) | 120,137 | ||
| Mega-package | See Enterprise Resource Planning System | - | ||
| Message | An object-oriented mechanism for activating methods | 33, 40-1 152-3 | ||
| Method | A defined operation associated with an object. See also IS Development Method | 17, 105, 108 | ||
| Methodology | Constitutes assumptions about which research approaches are appropriate for generating valid evidence | 559 | ||
| MIS | See Management Information System | - | ||
| Modelling Approach | A modelling approach consists of constructs, notation and principles of use | 98 | ||
| N | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Negative Feedback | The monitoring subsystem monitors the outputs from the system and detects variations from defined levels of performance. If the outputs vary from established levels then the monitoring subsystem initiates some actions that reduce the variation | 51-2 | ||
| Norm | An expectation of human behaviour | 35, 236 | ||
| O | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Object | Some real world thing which can be uniquely identified. A package of data and procedures. | 105 | ||
| Object Class | An object class is a grouping of similar objects | 105 | ||
| Object Model | A model of some database expressed using object-oriented constructs | 105 | ||
| Object Modelling | The process of developing an object model | 101, 105-8 | ||
| Object-Oriented | A term applied to programming languages, design methods and database systems to mean providing support for constructs such as objects, classes, generalisation aggregation etc. | 323 | ||
| Ontology | That branch of philosophy concerned with theories of reality | 559-60 | ||
| Operating System | That piece of system software concerned with the management of all other applications on a computer system | 128-9 | ||
| Operational Management | The lowest level of management involved with making structured decisions with detailed data | 91-2 | ||
| Operational Research | A discipline devoted to applying scientific methods to the problems of management | 55 | ||
| Optionality | Optionality establishes whether all instances of an entity must participate in a relationship or not | 103-4 | ||
| Organisation | A social collective in which formal procedures are used for coordinating the activities of members in the pursuit of joint objectives | 14, 215-74 | ||
| Organisation Culture | The set of behavioral expectations associated with some organisation | 12, 235-43 | ||
| Organisation Data Model | A high-level map of the data requirements for some organisation | 414 | ||
| Organisation Planning | Organisation planning is the process of formulating an organisation strategy | 257 | ||
| Organisation Process | A set of activities cutting across the major functional divisions within organisations by which organisations accomplish their mission | 244-54 | ||
| Organisation Process Model | A high-level map of organisational processes | 414 | ||
| Organisation Strategy | The general direction or mission of some organisation | 13, 255-63 | ||
| Organisation Structure | The set of objects of relevance to some organisation plus the relationships between such objects | 12, 228-33 | ||
| Organisation Theory | That body of knowledge concerned with defining the key features of organisations | 218-27 | ||
| Organisational Analysis | The process of analysing and redesigning key business processes or human activity systems | 387-98 | ||
| Organisational Culture | The set of behavioural expectations associated with some organisation | 12, 235-43 | ||
| Organisational Learning | Organisational learning occurs when members of the organisation respond to changes in the internal and external environments of the organisation by detecting and correcting errors in organisational theory-in-use, and embedding the results of their inquiry in private images and shared maps of the organisation | 451-3 | ||
| Output | The elements that a system passes back to its environment | 120-1, 148 | ||
| Output Device | A device that outputs data | 120-1 | ||
| Output Subsystem | That part of a computer system that outputs data to the user or to some other device | 120-1 | ||
| Outsourcing | The strategy in which the whole or part of the informatics service is handed over to an external vendor | 467-8 | ||
| P | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Package Development | In package development an organisation purchases a piece of software from a vendor organisation and tailors the package to a greater or lesser extent to the demands of a particular organisation | 317,366 | ||
| Parallel Implementation | An implementation approach in which two systems, the old and the new system, run in parallel | 373 | ||
| Payback Period | Payback is calculated on the basis of: Payback = Investment - cumulative benefit (cash inflow) | 334 | ||
| Perfective Maintenance | Changes made to the information system which make improvements but without affecting its functionality | 379 | ||
| Physical Data Representation | The form of data representation primarily used by computer hardware | 136-7 | ||
| Physical Design | The process of detailing the major elements of how a system will work on some computer system | 359, 361 | ||
| Physical Flow | This represent the flow of tangible or physical goods and services such as foodstuffs and automobiles | 251 | ||
| Physical Model | A model close to a description of reality and containing detailed plans for implementation | 100 | ||
| Physical Store | This represents a place in which collections of physical artefacts accumulate such as warehouses | 251 | ||
| Political Environment | The external environment of the organisation concerned with power and its exercise | 15, 301-7 | ||
| Portal | A portal is designed to be an entry point for users into the WWW | 483-4 | ||
| Positive Feedback | Positive feedback involves the monitoring sub-system increasing the discrepancy between desired and actual levels of performance | 52-3 | ||
| Positivism | A philosophical position which assumes an objective reality which should be studied through systematic theory-testing in order to generate law-like generalisations | 559-60 | ||
| Post-Mortem Evaluation | That variant of summative evaluation concerned with assessing the reasons for and lessons from information systems failures | 436-74 | ||
| Power | Power is the ability of a person or social group to control the behaviour of some other person or social group | 36-7 | ||
| Pragmatics | The study of the general context and culture of communication | 34, 35-7 | ||
| Preventative Maintenance | Changes aimed at improving a system's maintainability such as documentation or improving the flexibility of some information technology system | 379 | ||
| Primary Storage | Primary storage includes media that can be directly acted upon by the central processing unit (CPU) of the computer, such as main memory or cache memory. Primary storage usually provides fast access to relatively low volumes of data | 120 | ||
| Process | Some transformation of input into output. In behavioural modelling a process is a transformation of incoming data flow(s) into outgoing data flow(s). | 244-54 | ||
| Process Failure | This type of failure is characterised by unsatisfactory development performance | 204 | ||
| Process Map | See Organisation Process Model | - | ||
| Process Mapping | The activity of analysing and specifying major organisational processes | 393 | ||
| Process Re-Design | See Process Re-engineering | - | ||
| Process Re-engineering | The process of analysing, re-designing and implementing organisational processes | 245-6, 389-92 | ||
| Process/Data Matrix | A Matrix which relates entities on an organisation data model against processes on an organisation process model | 414 | ||
| Product-based Project Management | A form of project management in which project planning and control is focused around information systems products | 445 | ||
| Production Database | A type of database designed to support standard organisational functions | 142 | ||
| Productivity Paradox | The paradox that those organisations that have invested significantly in IT do not appear to have experienced significant improvements in productivity | 195-6 | ||
| Programming Language | A language for instructing some computer system | 126-7 | ||
| Project Control | Project control concerns ensuring that a project remains on schedule, within budget and produces the desired output | 444-5 | ||
| Project Escalation | The process in which decision-makers become locked in an irrational course of action | 210, 275 | ||
| Project Management | The process of planning for, organising and controlling projects | 21, 440-7 | ||
| Project Organisation | Project organisation concerns how to structure staff activities to ensure maximum effectiveness | 443 | ||
| Project Planning | Project planning involves determining as clearly as possible the likely parameters associated with a particular project | 441-3 | ||
| Prototyping | The development approach in which prototypes are produced | 325, 346 | ||
| R | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Record | A physical data structure composed of fields | 137 | ||
| Redundancy | A measure of the degree to which data is unnecessarily replicated across information systems | 413 | ||
| Referent | That which is being signified. The range of phenomena referred to | 37 | ||
| Re-intermediation | The process in electronic markerts of new intermediaries developing between buyers and sellers | 483, 493 | ||
| Relationship | An association between entities or objects | 103 | ||
| Representation Formalism | A set of syntactic and semantic conventions that make it possible to describe things | 394 | ||
| Representative Participation | A design group is formed made up of representatives of all grades of staff with systems analysts. The representatives however are selected by management | 359 | ||
| Requirements Analysis | The stage in the database development process involved in the elicitation of data requirements | 346-8 | ||
| Requirements Elicitation | See Requirements Analysis | - | ||
| Research Method | A general approach to conducting research | 560-1 | ||
| Research Technique | A way of collecting, analysing and representing data | 560-1 | ||
| Research Tool | 'Technology' for conducting research | 560-1 | ||
| Return on Investment | The return on investment (RoI) associated with an IS project is calculated using the following equation: RoI = average (annual net income / annual investment amount) | 333 | ||
| Risk Analysis | The identification, estimation and assessment of risk | 335-6 | ||
| Role | A package of behaviour associated with particular social situations | 36 | ||
| Root Definition | A way of specifying organisational processes in Soft Systems Method | 395-6 | ||
| Rules Subsystem | That part of an IT system concerned with application logic | 160 | ||
| S | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Satisficing | The term used by Herbert Simon to describe the characteristics of human decision-making | 91-224 | ||
| Scenario | A narrative description of what people do and experience as they try to make use of computer systems and applications | 324, 347 | ||
| Scientific Management | An approach to management thinking created by Frederick Taylor | 221 | ||
| Secondary Storage | Secondary storage cannot be processed directly by the CPU. It hence provides slower access than primary storage but can handle much larger volumes of data. Two of the most popular forms of secondary storage are magnetic disk and magnetic tape | 120 | ||
| Semantics | The study of the meaning of signs | 34, 37-9 | ||
| Semiosis | The process of using signs | 39 | ||
| Semiotics | The study of signs and sign-systems | 32-5 | ||
| Sign | Anything that is significant. Normally made up of symbol, concept and referent | 33-5 | ||
| Social Environment | The external environment of the organisation concerned with society | 292-300 | ||
| Socio-Technical Design | The parallel design of both technical and social systems | 356-8 | ||
| Socio-technical system | A socio-technical system is a system of technology used within a system of activity. | 6 | ||
| Soft System | Collections of people undertaking activities to achieve some purpose | 56 | ||
| Soft Systems Methodology | The approach to organisational analysis created by Peter Checkland | 394-6 | ||
| Speech Act | An action of speech. See also Illocutionary act | 221, 240-1 | ||
| Stages of Growth Model | A model which defines some key phases in the life of informatics management for some organisation | 436-8 | ||
| Stakeholder | The group of people to which an information system is relevant | 5, 179, 183-4, 209 | ||
| Stakeholder Analysis | Analysing the types of and impact of stakeholders on information systems | 196-7 | ||
| Stakeholder Involvement | Involvement of stakeholder representatives in the development of an IT system | 179, 184-5 | ||
| Stakeholder Participation | Involvement of stakeholders both in the development of the IT system and the work surrounding its use | 358-9 | ||
| Stakeholder Resistance | The resistance of stakeholder groups to the introduction of some information system | 185-6 | ||
| Stakeholder Satisfaction | The state of satisfaction expressed by some stakeholder group in an information system | 179, 184 | ||
| State | The state of a system is defined by the values appropriate to the systems' attributes or state variables | 49 | ||
| Storage | That part of a system concerned with the representation of data | 119-20 | ||
| Storage Device | A device that persistently represents data | 119-20 | ||
| Storage Subsystem | That part of the computer system concerned with the persistent representation of data | 119-20 | ||
| Strategic Analysis | Strategic analysis involves determining the organisation's mission and goals | 258 | ||
| Strategic Choice | This involves generating strategic options, evaluation of such options and the selection of a suitable strategy to achieve the selected option | 258 | ||
| Strategic Evaluation | That form of IS evaluation concerned with assessing the utility of some information system prior to development | 21, 473 | ||
| Strategic Implementation | Strategic implementation comprises determining policies, making decisions and taking action | 258 | ||
| Strategic Information System | An information system that delivers competitive advantage | 19-20 421-7 | ||
| Strategic Management | The top-level of management concerned with making unstructured decisions with heavily summarised data | 91-2 | ||
| Strategy | Strategy is the art of a commander-in-chief; the art of projecting and directing the larger military movements and operations in a campaign | 256-7 | ||
| Structural Modelling | That form of IS modelling concerned with representing the structure of data in the system | 103-5 | ||
| Structuration | The process by which human action both produces and reproduces social structure and also how social structure both informs and constrains human action | 220-1 | ||
| Sub-Culture | The set of behavioural expectations associated with some part of a larger social grouping | 237 | ||
| Sub-system | A sub-system is some coherent part of a system | 48-9 | ||
| Summative Evaluation | That form of IS evaluation that assesses the worth of some system after implementation | 21, 198, 374-5 | ||
| Supplier-facing TPS | Transaction processing systems that interface with the supplier | 82 | ||
| Supplier-oriented B2B | Producers and consumers use the same electronic marketplace. Essentially the same as B2C E-Commerce | 522 | ||
| Supply Chain | The chain of activities that an organisation performs in relation to its suppliers | 22, 248-50, 483 | ||
| Supply Chain Management | The collection of an organisation's activities devoted to the management of the supply chain | 490 | ||
| Symbol | That which is signifying something | 37-8 | ||
| Syntactics | That part of semiotics devoted to the study of the structure of signs and sign-systems | 34, 39-40 | ||
| Syntax | The operational rules for the correct representation of terms and their use in the construction of sentences of the language | 40 | ||
| System | A coherent set of inter-dependent components which exists for some purpose, has some stability, and can be usefully viewed as a whole | 4 | ||
| System Documentation | This describes the structure and behaviour of the IT system for developers | 367 | ||
| System Lag | Lag is a delay between the issuing of a control signal and the adjustment of the system process to the signals | 53-4 | ||
| System Software | That collection of programs which coordinate the activities of hardware and all programs running on a computer system | 128-9 | ||
| System Testing | Testing of an entire system as a unit | 366 | ||
| Systems Analysis | That part of the development process devoted to eliciting and representing the requirements for systems | 55-6 339-52 | ||
| Systems Conception | That part of the development process devoted to assessing the investment potential and feasibility of systems | 328-38 | ||
| Systems Construction | That part of the development process devoted to constructing systems | 364-70 | ||
| Systems Design | That part of the development process devoted to designing the functionality of systems | 353-63 | ||
| Systems Engineering | A systems discipline concerned with the production of large, complex physical artefacts | 55 | ||
| Systems Implementation | That part of the development process devoted to delivering the system into its context of use | 371-6 | ||
| Systems Maintenance | That part of the development process devoted to maintaining systems | 377-83 | ||
| Systems Thinking | See General Systems Theory | - | ||
| T | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Tacit Knowledge | Knowledge accessible only with difficulty through elicitation techniques | 225, 450, 451 | ||
| Tactical Management | Middle management which interfaces between strategic and operational management | 91-2 | ||
| Tactics | Tactics belongs only to the mechanical movement of bodies set in motion by strategy | 256-7 | ||
| Task Analysis | Specifying the precise organisation of tasks associated with the use of some computer system | 348-9 | ||
| Technique | Some systematic activity within the development process | 17, 322, 324 | ||
| Technological Frame | A technological frame is a collection of underlying assumptions, expectations and knowledge that people have about technology and its use. | 183-4 | ||
| Tele-communication Carrier | An organisation which provides the tele-communication infrastructure for communications | 150 | ||
| Tele-communication Device | A piece of hardware that permits electronic communication to occur | 150 | ||
| Tele-communication Media | Media used for the transmission of data in communication networks | 149 | ||
| Tele-communication Service | See Tele-communication Carrier | - | ||
| Tele-democracy | The use of IS and IT to improve democratic processes | 304-6 | ||
| Tele-government | See Electronic Government | - | ||
| Teleology | The study of the purposes of systems | 47 | ||
| Tera-Byte | 1,000,000,000,000 (trillion) bytes | 120, 137 | ||
| Testing | Part of systems construction. Ensuring that an information system is working effectively | 366-7, 373 | ||
| Theory X | According to this theory the average human being is perceived as disliking work and hence avoiding it wherever possible. The average human being avoids responsibility and has little ambition | 361-2 | ||
| Theory Y | According to this theory physical and mental effort are important and natural human functions. If humans are committed to certain objectives they will exercise self-direction and self-control. The capacity to exercise imagination, ingenuity and creativity are widely distributed in the population | 361-2 | ||
| Third Generation Programming Language | Also known as high-level language. A programming language one further step removed from assembly language | 325, 366 | ||
| Tool | Some software used to aid the development process | 325 | ||
| TPS | See Transaction Processing System | - | ||
| Transaction Processing System | TPS. A type of information system supporting the operational activities of some organisation | 69, 81-4 | ||
| Transaction Subsystem | That part of an IT system concerned with communicating between the interface and rules subsystem and the data subsystem | 160 | ||
| Transactional Data | Transactional data is data that records events taking place between individuals, groups and organisations | 289, 294, 295 | ||
| Turing Machine | An abstract machine, created by Alan Turing, that proposed the essential features of the modern computer | 116-17 | ||
| U | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| UKAIS | UK Academy of Information Systems. An academic group attempting to press for the position of Information Systems as a distinctive discipline within the UK and Eire | 554-5 | ||
| Unit Testing | Testing of individual programs or software modules | 366 | ||
| Usability | An information system's usability is how easy a system is to use for the purpose for which it has been constructed | 8, 178-9, 182, 210 473 | ||
| Use Case | A use case model provides a high-level description of major user interactions with some information system | 324, 346-8 | ||
| Use Failure | Failure of an information system after a period of use | 203 | ||
| User Documentation | A source of reference for users to turn to when puzzled about aspects of use | 367 | ||
| User Interface | That part of an IT system which allows the end-user to use the system | 180-2 | ||
| Utility | Utility refers to the worth of an information system in terms of the contribution it makes to its human activity system and to the organisation as a whole | 8-9, 178, 210, 473 | ||
| V | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Value Added Network | VAN. A type of communication network in which a third-party creates and maintains a network for other organisations | 151 | ||
| Value-Chain | An organisation's value chain is a series of interdependent activities that delivers a product or service to a customer | 22, 247-8, 483, 511-12 | ||
| Vertical Portal | These normally provide the same functionality as horizontal portals but for a specific market sector | 484, 523 | ||
| Virtual Organisations | Also referred to as network organisations. Organisations characterised by flat organisational hierachies, formed around projects and linked together by information technology | 232 | ||
| Vocabulary | A complete list of the terms of a language. See Syntactics | 40 | ||
| Volume Testing | Testing the application with large amounts of data and use | 366 | ||
| W | Term | Definition | Pages | |
| Wide Area Network | WAN. A type of communication network in which the nodes of the network are geographically remote | 151 | ||
| Word | One or more bytes treated as a unit | 120 | ||
| WWW | World Wide Web. A set of standards for hypermedia documentation. It now has become synonymous with the Internet | 153-6 |