Why study information systems? Why do businesses need information technology? What do you need to know about the use and management of information technologies in business? The introductory chapters of Module I are designed to answer these fundamental questions about the role of information systems in business.

• Chapter 1: Foundations of Information Systems in Business presents an overview of the five basic areas of information systems knowledge needed by business professionals, including the conceptual system components and major types of information systems. In addition, trends in information systems and an overview of the managerial challenges associated with information systems are presented.
• Chapter 2: Competing with Information Technology introduces fundamental concepts of competitive advantage through information technology and illustrates major strategic applications of information systems.
Completing these chapters will prepare you to move on to study chapters on information technologies (Module II), business applications (Module III), systems development processes (Module IV), and the management challenges of information systems (Module V).

1. Understand the concept of a system and how it relates to information systems.
2. Explain why knowledge of information systems is important for business professionals, and identify five areas of information systems knowledge they need.
3. Give examples to illustrate how the business applications of information systems can support a firm’s business processes, managerial decision making, and strategies for competitive advantage.
4. Provide examples of several major types of information systems from your experiences with business organizations in the real world.
5. Identify several challenges that a business manager might face in managing the successful and ethical development and use of information technology in a business.
6. Provide examples of the components of real world information systems. Illustrate that in an information system, people use hardware, software, data, and networks as resources to perform input, processing, output, storage, and control activities that transform data resources into information products.
7. Become familiar with the myriad of career opportunities in information systems.