The Thirteenth Edition is designed for business students who are or who will soon become business professionals in the fast changing business world of today. The goal of this text is to help business students learn how to use and manage information technologies to revitalize business processes, improve business decision making, and gain competitive advantage. Thus, it places a major emphasis on up-to-date coverage of the essential role of Internet technologies in providing a platform for business, commerce, and collaboration processes among all business stakeholders in today's networked enterprises and global markets. This is the business and managerial perspective that this text brings to the study of information systems.

Of course, as in all O'Brien texts, this edition:

• Loads the text with Real World Cases, in-depth examples (Blue Boxes), and opportunities to learn about real people and companies in the business world (Real World Activities, Case Study Questions, Discussion Questions, and Analysis Exercises).

• Organizes the text around a simple Five-area Information Systems Framework that emphasizes the IS knowledge a business professional needs to know.

• Places a major emphasis on the strategic role of information technology in providing business professionals with tools and resources for managing business operations, supporting decision making, enabling enterprise collaboration, and gaining competitive advantage.