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Newer Version Available
Cover of Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology v5.0
Published: 
July 2016
Page Count: 
496
ISBN (Digital): 
978-1-4533-7575-4

Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology

Version 5.0
By John Gallaugher

Included Supplements

Key Features

  • Unique approach to information systems by leading with strategic thinking before diving into technical topics.
  • Current and engaging case studies that challenge students to apply what they’ve learned.
  • Coverage of not only strategy and technology basics, but also of critical concepts including data analytics, security, social media, the sharing economy, disruptive innovation, network effects and more.
  • In-depth profiles on widely-known firms such as Facebook, Amazon, Google, Netflix, Rent the Runway, and Zara.
  • Customizable.

Students

Online Access Price:  $39.95 Color Printed Textbook with Online Access Price:  $66.95
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This textbook is suitable for the following courses: Introduction to Information Systems, Strategic Information Systems, Capstone Information Systems course, Technology Entrepreneurship, Digital Organizations and Digital Leadership.

Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology covers all of the standard topics in management information systems. Gallaugher provides a holistic view of how business and technology interrelate, and how technology can be used to enhance a growth strategy in a corporation. This textbook uses extensive case studies on contemporary firms as a key part of the pedagogy, in order to demonstrate the real-world application of the topics. Gallaugher wrote this textbook to be as engaging as the best Wired and Wall Street Journal articles.

New in This Version

  • Expanded and updated mini cases and examples throughout.
  • New compelling statistics on the challenges of easy-to-replicate technology with examples such as Facebook vs. Snapchat.
  • Added section on Zara detailing its imitation resistant distribution channels, 5-star app, and more.
  • Added information on the importance of data.
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Dedication
  • Preface

    • Chapter 1: Setting the Stage: Technology and the Modern Enterprise

  • 1.1 Tech’s Tectonic Shift: Radically Changing Business Landscapes
  • 1.2 It’s Your Revolution
  • 1.3 Geek Up—Tech Is Everywhere and You’ll Need It to Thrive
  • 1.4 The Pages Ahead

    • Chapter 2: Strategy and Technology: Concepts and Frameworks for Understanding What Separates Winners from Losers

  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Powerful Resources
  • 2.3 Barriers to Entry, Technology, and Timing
  • 2.4 Key Framework: The Five Forces of Industry Competitive Advantage

    • Chapter 3: Zara: Fast Fashion from Savvy Systems

  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 Don’t Guess, Gather Data
  • 3.3 Moving Forward

    • Chapter 4: Netflix in Two Acts: The Making of an E-Commerce Giant and the Uncertain Future of Atoms to Bits

  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 Act I: David Becomes Goliath: Crafting Killer Assets for DVD-by-Mail Dominance
  • 4.3 Act II: Netflix and the Shift from Mailing Atoms to Streaming Bits

    • Chapter 5: Moore’s Law and More: Fast, Cheap Computing, and What This Means for the Manager

  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 The Death of Moore’s Law?
  • 5.3 Bringing Brains Together: Supercomputing, Grids, Clusters, and Putting Smarts in the Cloud
  • 5.4 E-waste: The Dark Side of Moore’s Law
  • 5.5 Mickey’s Wearable: Disney’s Magic Band

    • Chapter 6: Disruptive Technologies: Understanding the Giant Killers and Tactics for Avoiding Extinction

  • 6.1 Introduction
  • 6.2 Bitcoin: A Disruptive Innovation for Money and More?

    • Chapter 7: Amazon: An Empire Stretching from Cardboard Box to Kindle to Cloud

  • 7.1 Introduction
  • 7.2 The Emperor of E-Commerce
  • 7.3 Kindle on Fire: The Rise of Digital, the Everywhere Store, and New Opportunities from e-Book, Tablet, TV, and Voice Controlled Assistants
  • 7.4 Amazon and the Cloud: From Personal Storage to AWS

    • Chapter 8: Understanding Network Effects: Strategies for Competing in a Platform-Centric, Winner-Take-All World

  • 8.1 Introduction
  • 8.2 Where Does All That Value Come From?
  • 8.3 One-Sided or Two-Sided Markets?
  • 8.4 How Are These Markets Different?
  • 8.5 Competing When Network Effects Matter

    • Chapter 9: Social Media, Peer Production, and Web 2.0

  • 9.1 Introduction
  • 9.2 Blogs
  • 9.3 Wikis
  • 9.4 Social Networks
  • 9.5 Twitter and the Rise of Microblogging
  • 9.6 Prediction Markets and the Wisdom of Crowds
  • 9.7 Crowdsourcing
  • 9.8 Get SMART: The Social Media Awareness and Response Team

    • Chapter 10: The Sharing Economy, Collaborative Consumption, and Creating More Efficient Markets through Technology

  • 10.1 Introduction
  • 10.2 Boom Times and Looming Challenges in the Sharing Economy
  • 10.3 Future Outlook: Established Players Get Collaborative
  • 10.4 Airbnb—Hey Stranger, Why Don’t You Stay at My Place?
  • 10.5 Uber: Sharing Economy Success from Tech-Fueled Superior Service

    • Chapter 11: Facebook: A Billion-plus users, the High-Stakes Move to Mobile, and Big Business from the Social Graph

  • 11.1 Introduction
  • 11.2 Disrupting Competition, Building Competitive Advantage, and the Challenging Rise of Mobile
  • 11.3 Lessons from Facebook as an Apps Platform: Early Promise, Continued Challenges, Mobile Missteps
  • 11.4 Advertising and Social Networks:  A Challenging Landscape but a Big Payoff
  • 11.5 A Platform Player that Moves Fast and Breaks Things: What All Managers Can Learn from Facebook’s Mistakes, Responses, and Pursuit of New Opportunities

    • Chapter 12: Rent the Runway: Entrepreneurs Expanding an Industry by Blending Tech with Fashion

  • 12.1 Introduction
  • 12.2 Founding the Business: Are We On To Something?
  • 12.3 Customer Engagement (Mobile, Social, and Physical Storefronts)
  • 12.4 Data
  • 12.5 Operations and Logistics
  • 12.6 Expanding with New Models
  • 12.7 Conclusion

    • Chapter 13: Understanding Software: A Primer for Managers

  • 13.1 Introduction
  • 13.2 Operating Systems
  • 13.3 Application Software
  • 13.4 Distributed Computing, Web Services, and APIs
  • 13.5 Writing Software
  • 13.6 Understanding Technology beyond the Price Tag: Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and the Cost of Tech Failure

    • Chapter 14: Software in Flux: Open Source, Cloud, Virtualized and App-driven Shifts

  • 14.1 Introduction
  • 14.2 Open Source
  • 14.3 Why Open Source?
  • 14.4 Examples of Open Source Software
  • 14.5 Why Give It Away? The Business of Open Source
  • 14.6 Defining Cloud Computing
  • 14.7 Software in the Cloud: Why Buy When You Can Rent?
  • 14.8 SaaS: Not without Risks
  • 14.9 Understanding Cloud Computing Models: PaaS, IaaS, and Motivations and Risks
  • 14.10 Clouds and Tech Industry Impact
  • 14.11 Virtualization: Software That Makes One Computer Act Like Many
  • 14.12 Apps and App Stores: Further Disrupting the Software Industry on Smartphones, Tablets, and Beyond
  • 14.13 Make, Buy, or Rent

    • Chapter 15: The Data Asset: Databases, Business Intelligence, Analytics, Big Data, and Competitive Advantage

  • 15.1 Introduction
  • 15.2 Data, Information, and Knowledge
  • 15.3 Where Does Data Come From?
  • 15.4 Data Rich, Information Poor
  • 15.5 Data Warehouses, Data Marts, and Technology behind “Big Data”
  • 15.6 The Business Intelligence Toolkit
  • 15.7 Data Asset in Action: Technology and the Rise of Walmart

    • Chapter 16: A Manager’s Guide to the Internet and Telecommunications

  • 16.1 Introduction
  • 16.2 Internet 101: Understanding How the Internet Works
  • 16.3 Getting Where You’re Going
  • 16.4 Last Mile: Faster Speed, Broader Access

    • Chapter 17: Information Security: Barbarians at the Gateway (and Just About Everywhere Else)

  • 17.1 Introduction
  • 17.2 Why Is This Happening? Who Is Doing It? And What’s Their Motivation?
  • 17.3 Where Are Vulnerabilities? Understanding the Weaknesses
  • 17.4 Taking Action

    • Chapter 18: Google in Three Parts: Search, Online Advertising, and an Alphabet of Opportunity

  • 18.1 Introduction
  • 18.2 Understanding Search
  • 18.3 Understanding the Increase in Online Ad Spending
  • 18.4 Search Advertising
  • 18.5 Ad Networks—Distribution beyond Search
  • 18.6 More Ad Formats and Payment Schemes
  • 18.7 Customer Profiling and Behavioral Targeting
  • 18.8 Profiling and Privacy
  • 18.9 Search Engines, Ad Networks, and Fraud
  • 18.10 The Battle Unfolds
    • Instructor’s Manual

    Instructor’s Manual

    The Instructor’s Manual guides you through the main concepts of each chapter and important elements such as learning objectives, key terms, and key takeaways. Can include answers to chapter exercises, group activity suggestions, and discussion questions.

    Instructor’s Manual

    PowerPoint Lecture Notes

    PowerPoint Lecture Notes

    A PowerPoint presentation highlighting key learning objectives and the main concepts for each chapter are available for you to use in your classroom. You can either cut and paste sections or use the presentation as a whole.

    PowerPoint Lecture Notes

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    Solutions Manual

    Solutions Manual

    For exercises that need a little more explanation, our Solutions Manual will take you step by step through solving the problem and offer explanations on the answer.

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    Other Supplements

    Other Supplements

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    John Gallaugher Boston College

    John Gallaugher (PhD Syracuse University School of Management) is the founder of the Boston College TechTrek field study programs, and as an advisor to multiple successful student entrepreneurs, John has had unprecedented access to the world’s leading technology and tech investment firms. An award-winning educator and author, John has been named a "Distinguished Educator" by Apple Inc., a "Most Popular Professor" by Bloomberg Businessweek, and “Guru to Grads” by Entrepreneur Magazine. He has also received the Boston College Trzaska Faculty Leadership Award, the all-university Boston College Teaching Award, the Carroll School of Management Teaching Award, and the student newspaper’s Momentum Award for campus impact. His bestselling textbook Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology has been used at over 450 universities worldwide, and has twice won the Textbook and Academic Authors' Association "Texty" award for excellence. John has taught on five continents and has led field study experiences in Seattle, San Francisco/Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, Dublin, Ghana, and Sydney. John’s research has been published in leading journals including the MIS Quarterly and Harvard Business Review, and he has consulted for leading organizations including Apple Inc., Accenture, ING, Partners Healthcare, State Street, and the U.S. Information Agency, among others. John has worked extensively with student entrepreneurs and has seen several former students gain admittance to elite accelerators (Y-Combinator, TechStars, MassChallenge), raise capital, and build thriving businesses, with some garnering unicorn ($1 billion plus) valuations. His comments on Business and Technology have appeared in several media outlets, including The New York Times, BusinessWeek, The Associated Press, National Public Radio, and Wired. One of the rare academics who teaches managerial as well as software and hardware programming courses, you can find hundreds of "flipped learning" and project videos at: YouTube.com/profgallaugher. John holds both a BA in Computer Science and an MBA from Boston College, and a PhD in Information Systems from the Syracuse University School of Management. He occasionally publishes on Substack (http://profgallaugher.substack.com) and is also active on social media—having left X for Threads: @john.gallaugher.

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