Table Of ContentInformation Technology
for
Management
Second Edition
About the Author
Ramesh Behl is professor and area chairperson of information systems at
International Management Institute, New Delhi. His teaching expertise includes
Information Technology based Decision Making, Systems Analysis and
Design, e-Business, Information Systems Management, Business Intelligence,
Enterprise Systems, Customer Relationship Management and Decision
Support Systems. He is also an active researcher in the area of e-business and
information systems management. He has designed and developed a number
of software for various industry applications.
A United Nations fellow on information systems and international
operations and also a SAP certifi ed consultant, he is an international accreditated professor of
International Accreditation Organization (IAO), USA. He has over 27 years' of teaching, research
and consulting experience. He has worked earlier with Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT),
New Delhi; Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow; and The Statesman, New Delhi.
Professor Behl has been a part of a number of research and consulting assignments for
government and private organisations in the areas of information systems and international trade.
Author of over fi fteen books and a number of research papers, and consultant to a number of
international and Indian companies, he has delivered lectures and conducted many workshops in
international forums. He was the member of the Core Group on Electronic Commerce set-up by
Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. He was awarded “Outstanding Academic Award
2010” by SAP, South East Asia, Japan and “Best Professor Award in Information Technology” as
part of Asia’s Best B-School Awards presented by CMO Asia in Singapore in July 2011.
Information Technology
for
Management
Second Edition
Ramesh Behl
Professor and Area Chairperson (Information Systems)
International Management Institute, New Delhi
Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited
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Foreword
I vividly remember my fi rst brush with computers. The year was 1971. At IIT Delhi, we had an
ICL 1901. It was a giant machine, housed in over 10,000 sq.ft. with whirling magnetic tapes and
chattering card readers. At that time, computers were supposed to solve complex differential
equations, analyse massive civil engineering structures, model chemical formulations, work out
rocket trajectories and so on. The notion that computers could solve business problems was remote.
The giant mainframes were for scientists and engineers to cope with mathematical drudgery. Not
for addressing small business issues.
How all that has changed! The power of that giant machine is a fraction of the power that
I have in this laptop that I am using for writing this foreword. The quiet hard disk on this
machine can store many more bytes than all those tapes could. I have been fortunate to watch
this transformation. Word processing, spreadsheets, business presentations, the PC, local area
networks, the internet, enterprise wide solutions, client servers, the web, etc. have completely
altered the business scenario. One often wonders how businesses could ever be run without the
computing power available today. Business applications have taken centre stage and the scientifi c
and engineering applications have been relegated to the background.
What a transformation!
It is in this context that this book Information Technology for Management has a special
signifi cance. It is a book that envelops this transformation and features the rapid developments
that have taken place. It talks about the comprehensive role of Information Technology (IT) and
the integral role that it is playing in a business at a strategic and an operational level. And a fi ner
author than Prof Ramesh Behl could not have written it.
I fi rst met Ramesh a decade back when Cyber Media decided to set-up the School of
Convergence at IMI. He was very enthusiastic about this project, supported it whole-heartedly;
and worked towards ensuring success of the School. During the next few years, we struck a
great rapport and created a fi ne journalism school. What impressed me was Ramesh’s in-depth
knowledge about various aspects of information technology—decision models, systems analysis
and design, electronic business, information systems management, business intelligence and
decision support systems. He had complete mastery over all these topics. No wonder the United
Nations appointed him a Fellow in Information Systems. His 25 years of experience at various
viii
Foreword
educational institutions, his numerous research papers, consultancy assignments and more than a
dozen books implies that the reader is bound to get, not just the theory, but the practical aspects
of business.
T his becomes unmistakably apparent and the reader will discover a wealth of knowledge in
the pages of this book. The coverage is comprehensive across various generations of hardware,
software and applications technology. Written in a simple style with very little jargon, this book
will help the readers understand the concepts, organise their thoughts and get a realistic picture of
the impact of IT on businesses.
I am very happy that Ramesh has used a lot of material from Cyber Media’s publications—
Dataquest and PCQuest. The content from the magazines has been converted into great case
studies. The reader will therefore get the practical side of IT usage in business organisations
besides the theory.
The book serves as an excellent text book as the material is organised brilliantly. Each chapter
starts with a set of questions thereby laying out the scenario ahead. The concepts are covered
in few jargon-free words—no long explanations. And there is a wealth of stuff at the end of
each chapter. A management summary, keywords, review questions, questions for discussions,
exercises, group projects and caselets will provide the reader with lots to do after the text has been
read.
Happy reading!
Pradeep Gupta
Chairman
Cyber Media (India) Ltd
Gurgaon
Preface
The fi rst edition of Information Technology for Management focused on information technology
as an essential management tool—the second edition focuses more on information technology
as an indispensable management tool. Across industries, survival and even existence without
extensive use of information technology (IT) is inconceivable, and IT plays a critical role in
increasing productivity and sustaining the competitive business. Although IT has become more
of a commodity, when coupled with complementary changes in organisation and management,
it can provide the foundation for new products, services, and ways of conducting business that
provide organisations with a strategic advantage.
IT has become a common and indispensable tool for modern businesses. But the basic question
is: whether businesses today take real advantage of the possibilities? This edition of the book tries
to answer this question by providing a thorough understanding of the role of IT in organisations.
This entails understanding the role of process analysis and design that help in adding value
to organisational growth by integrating information technology. To accomplish this, both the
technological possibilities and management’s ability to bring about organisational change is to
be taken into account. This helps in redesigning business processes in such a way, so as to make
optimal use of the possibilities information technology offers – both within organisations and in
dealing with external parties.
The emergence of a global economy, transformation of industrial economies, transformation
of the business enterprises, and the emergence of digital fi rms make information systems an
indispensible tool of business. Information system is a foundation of conducting business today.
In many businesses, survival and the ability to achieve strategic business goals is diffi cult without
extensive use of IT. In this context, this edition of the book provides up-to-date information on
latest technologies like in-memory computing, virtualisation and cloud computing, etc.
The complete book has been restructured and rewritten in an easy-to-understand format and
language, based on the feedback received from the valued readers. Based on this feedback,
sections II and III of the book have been re-organised to add two more chapters on Computer
Software and SPSS: A Statistical Decision Tool. Two additional learning notes on Introduction to
Word and Introduction to Powerpoint have been added as part of Annexure, which are available
on the book's companion website.
x
Preface
WHAT’S NEW
• Completely rewritten chapters focusing on managerial issues, while covering the technical
aspects
• Emphasis on emerging technologies and concepts like virtualisation, cloud computing,
business intelligence and enterprise solutions, etc.
• Emphasis on networks, internet technologies, e-business and their applications in
business
• Over 60 latest “real-world” case-examples, drawn from Indian and international
organisations
• Chapter on Computer Hardware rewritten to add topics like number systems and boolean
algebra
• Chapter on Computer Software added to cover more concepts and applications
• Chapter on SPSS: A Statistical Tool added to discuss the concepts and applications of
decision-making using SPSS
• Easy-to-read and understand writing and presentation styles making the text
student-friendly
• Clearly laid out chapter objectives to facilitate better understanding
• Margin notes for all important topics and concepts
• Self-study questions to help improve the learning process
• More practical examples and application problems
TARGET AUDIENCE
The book is targeted at undergraduate and postgraduate level management courses offered in
universities and autonomous institutions. It can be used for an introductory course on computers.
The book is equally useful for courses on Introduction to Information Technology, Computer
Applications, Information Systems, Management Information Systems, Business Decision
Models, etc.
Being richly supplemented with Indian examples and cases, it can also be used by the
professionals as a reference material.
PEDAGOGICAL FEATURES
A number of pedagogical features have been used in the book for the benefi t of teachers and
students.
Sectional Case Each section begins with a case on a technological issue. These cases have been
selected to cover the theme of the section that is being discussed in the subsequent chapters. Each
of these cases raises certain problems with respect to the learning objectives, for the students to
debate on and fi nd solutions.
