Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
13-1
Chapter 13
Communication and Information Technology
Management
Learning Objectives 13-2
Key Definitions/Terms 13-2
Chapter Overview 13-3
Lecture Outline 13-4
Lecture Enhancers 13–20
Management in Action 13-23
Building Management Skills 13-25
Managing Ethically 13-26
Small Group Breakout Exercise 13-26
Be the Manager 13–27
Case in the News 13-27
Supplemental Features 13-29
Manager’s Hot Seat 13–29
Instructor’s PowerPoint Slides 13–29
CHAPTER CONTENTS
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
13-2
LO 13-1. Differentiate between data and information, list the attributes of
LO 13-2. Explain why effective communication helps an organization gain
a competitive advantage, and describe the communication process.
LO 13-4. Differentiate among six kinds of management information
systems.
artificial intelligence Behavior performed by a
machine that, if performed by a human being,
would be called “intelligent.”
blog A website on which an individual, group, or
organization posts information, commentary, and
opinions and to which readers can often respond
with their own commentary and opinions.
business-to-business (B2B) commerce Trade that
takes place between companies using technology
and the Internet to link and coordinate the value
chains of different companies.
a common understanding.
data Raw, unsummarized, and unanalyzed facts.
decision support system An interactive computer–
based management information system with model–
building capability that managers can use when
they must make nonroutine decisions.
decoding Interpreting and trying to make sense of a
message.
encoding Translating a message into
understandable symbols or language.
e-commerce Trade that takes place between
companies and between companies and individual
customers using technology and the Internet.
information Data that are organized in a
meaningful fashion.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
KEY DEFINITIONS/TERMS
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
13-3
information distortion Changes in the meaning
that occur as information passes through a series of
senders and receivers.
extent to which the medium enables the sender and
receiver to reach a common understanding.
employees about issues and concerns.
management information system A specific form
of IT that managers utilize to generate the specific,
share.
network Interlinked computers that exchange
information.
noise Anything that hampers any stage of the
communication process.
controlling, and decision-making tasks.
product life cycle The way demand for a product
sender The person or group wishing to share
information.
verbal communication The encoding of messages
into words, either written or spoken.
This chapter surveys the information systems and information technology in general, looking at the
relationship between information and a manager’s job. The nature of communication and how, it helps
subordinates to be effective communicators. The communication media available to managers and the
factors they need to consider when selecting a communication medium for each message they send.
This chapter discusses the several types of information systems that managers can use to help
themselves perform their jobs, and examines the impact that rapidly evolving information systems and
technologies may have on managers’ jobs and on an organization’s competitive advantage. By the end
of this chapter, the student should be able to understand the profound ways in which new
developments in information systems and technology are shaping the way managers communicate and
their functions and roles.
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
13-4
NOTE ABOUT INSTRUCTOR’S POWERPOINT
SLIDES
The Instructor PowerPoint Slides include most
Student PowerPoint slides, along with additional
material that can be used to expand the lecture.
Images of the Instructor PowerPoint slides can be
found at the end of this chapter on page 13-30.
LECTURE OUTLINE
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
Management Snapshot (pp. 439-440)
Wearable Technology Tracks Employee Performance
How Can Managers Harness the Latest Technology to Improve Employee Efficiency and
Effectiveness?
Imagine that while you are working you are wearing a sensor that resembles your employee ID badge
on a lanyard around your neck. The sensor picks up your body movements, voice inflections, and
environmental factors, such as lighting and temperature. What is this sensor? It’s called a type of
“wearable.” Such devices allow companies to track where employees are, what they are doing, and
how enthusiastically they are doing it. Wearables can come in the form of smart watches, eyeglasses,
earpieces, badges, and other devices.
Wearable sensors can provide data that can be used to improve productivity. In fact, one study found
that the productivity of workers using wearables increased by 8.5% and their job satisfaction increased
by 3.5%. But there are problems as well. Workers may feel that wearables impinge upon their privacy,
that they are never alone at work. Also, workers may feel that the only purpose of the wearable is to
improve outcomes in efficiency or productivity for the company. One organization that uses a
wearable, Sociometric Solutions, suggests reassuring employees that their privacy is protected by
letting them know what is being tracked, telling them that managers will see aggregate data, not each
individual’s data, and making participation voluntary.
I. Information and the Manager’s Job
Managers cannot plan, organize, lead, and control
effectively unless they have access to information.
Data are raw, unsummarized, and unanalyzed facts, which
by themselves do not tell managers anything.
Information is data that is organized in a meaningful
fashion. One of the uses of information technology is to
help managers transform data into information in order to
make better decisions.
LO 13-1: Differentiate
between data
and
information,
list the
attributes of
useful
information,
and describe
three reasons
why managers
must have
13-6
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
information that they can use to improve decisions.
2. Timeliness: Timely information is available when it
is needed, not after the decision has been made.
a. In today’s rapidly changing world, information
must be available on a real-time basis.
b. Real-time information is information that
reflects current changes in business conditions.
3. Completeness: Information that is complete gives
managers all that they need to know to exercise
control, achieve coordination, or make an effective
decision.
a. One of the functions of IT is to increase the
completeness of the information that managers
have.
4. Relevance: Information that is relevant is useful
and suits a manager’s particular needs and
circumstances.
a. Irrelevant information is useless and may
actually hurt the performance of a busy manager.
b. The people who design IT must make sure that
managers receive only relevant information.
B. What is Information Technology?
1. Information technology (IT) is the set of methods
or techniques for acquiring, organizing, storing,
manipulating, and transmitting information.
information systems have existed. Before the computer
age, most information systems were paper based.
technology are critical to organizations.
POWERPOINT SLIDES 13-7
TO 13-11
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
a. Those organizations that have not adopted new
IT, or have done so ineffectively, cannot remain
competitive with those that do.
5. Managers need information for three reasons: to
make effective decisions, to control the activities of the
organization, and to coordinate the organization’s
activities.
C. Information and Decisions
1. Managers spend a great deal of time making
decisions.
2. To make effective decisions, managers need
information from inside the organization and from
external stakeholders.
regulate how efficiently and effectively an
organization is performing the activities necessary to
achieve organizational goals.
2. Managers achieve control over organizational
activities by taking four steps:
b. They measure actual performance.
c. They compare actual performance against
established goals.
d. They evaluate the result and take corrective
action if necessary.
TEXT REFERENCE
Management Insight:
Big Data Helps Companies
Find the Right Talent
Information was once stored
in personnel files in the form
of employee-written profiles
and lists of knowledge,
skills, and abilities created to
match the organization
needs. When a new project
or a promotion came up
requiring a new set of skills,
the hiring manager would
scan the current employees
and check their profiles to
organization might hire an
Now there is software that
can track the knowledge,
skills, and abilities of
employees without looking
in an employee’s file. The
software looks at “big data”
software scans the Internet
for information about each
employee and compiles
information from social
media sites, such as
Facebook and Twitter, blogs,
comments on news stories,
talent than a hiring manager
13-8
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
2. To deal with global coordination problems within
their supply chain, managers have been adopting
sophisticated IT that helps them coordinate the flow of
materials, semi-finished goods, and finished goods
around the world.
II. Communication, Information, and
Management
Communication is the sharing of information
between two or more individuals or groups to reach a
common understanding.
1. Communication, including that which is
electronically based, is a human endeavor and
involves individuals and groups sharing
information and coordinating their actions.
2. Communication does not take place unless a
common understanding is reached.
A. The Importance of Good Communication
1. Because good communication is essential for
obtaining efficiency, quality, responsiveness to
customers, and innovation, it is a necessity for
gaining a competitive advantage.
2. Good communication is necessary so that
managers can increase efficiency by learning to
3. Improving quality hinges on effective
communication, because managers need to
a. Subordinates also need to communicate
quality problems and suggestions for
improving quality to their superiors.
can, even with years of
experience. A program is
capable of quickly taking
into account a greater variety
of information than the
average hiring manager can.
(p. 445)
LO 13-2: Explain why
effective
communicati
on helps an
organization
gain a
competitive
advantage,
and describe
the
communicati
on process.
POWERPOINT SLIDES 13-
12 TO 13-19
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
a. When the organizational members who are
closest to customers are empowered to
communicate customer needs to managers,
managers are better able to respond to these
needs.
b. Also, managers must communicate with
other organizational members to determine
how to best respond to changing customer
preferences.
organization can produce efficiently.
B. The Communication Process
1. The communication process consists of two
phases.
a. In the transmission phase, information is
shared between two or more individuals or
groups.
b. In the feedback phase, a common
understanding is reached.
or language, a process called encoding.
TEXT REFERENCE
Managing Globally:
Global Communications
Key to Success at GE
Healthcare
monitoring systems, such as
CT scanners. New product
development and
manufacture are truly global
endeavors at GE Healthcare.
Consider the development of
the LightSpeed VCT scanner
series, which can perform a
full-body scan in less than 10
seconds and yields a three-
dimensional picture of
patients’ hearts. The
LightSpeed was developed
through global collaboration.
various countries. Engineers
(India), Buc, and Waukesha.
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
tries to make sense of the message, a process
called decoding.
8. The feedback phase is begun when the receiver
decides what message to send to the original
sender, encodes it, and transmits it.
9. The original sender decodes the message and
makes sure that a common understanding has
been reached.
a. If a common understanding has not been
reached, the sender and receiver repeat this
process as times as needed to reach a common
understanding.
10. The encoding of messages into words, written
or spoken, is verbal communication.
11. Nonverbal communication shares
information by means of facial expressions, body
language, and even style of dress.
a. Nonverbal communication can be used to
reinforce verbal communication.
nonverbal communication and can
inadvertently send a message they did not
intend to.
others to perform their various roles and tasks,
a. When all members of an organization are
organization is more likely to perform highly.
effective communication in a
number of ways—
participating in daily
conference calls, making
sure teams in different
countries depended on one
another, developing an
internal website devoted to
the LightSpeed, encouraging
teams to ask one another for
help, and holding face-to–
face meetings in different
locations.( pp. 447-448)
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
organizational performance suffers, and any
competitive advantage is likely to be lost.
III. Information Richness and
Communication Media
A. To be effective communicators, managers need to
select an appropriate communication medium for each
message they send.
1. There is no one best communication medium
for managers to rely upon.
2. When choosing a communication medium,
managers should consider three factors.
a. The most important consideration is the
level of information richness that is needed.
Information richness is the amount of
information a communication medium can
carry and the extent to which the medium
enables the sender and receiver to reach a
common understanding. Media high in
information richness are able to carry a lot of
information.
b. The second factor is the amount of time
needed for communication.
c. The third factor is the need for a paper or
electronic trail to serve as evidence that a
document was sent or received.
1. Face-to-face communication is the medium that
is highest in information richness.
2. When managers communicate face-to-face,
they take advantage of verbal communication,
interpret each other’s nonverbal signals, and
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
informally with employees about the issues
and concerns of each.
b. These informal conversations provide
managers with important information and
foster the development of positive
relationships.
4. Face-to-face communication should not always
be the medium of choice for managers because of
the large amount of time it consumes and the lack
of a paper or electronic trail.
a. For messages that are important, personal,
or likely to be misunderstood, managers
should use face-to–face communication and
supplement it with some form of written
communication.
5. Many organizations are using videoconferences
to allow for face-to-face communication while
also saving time and money.
a. Videoconferencing allows managers in two
or more locations to communicate with each
other over video screens.
C. Spoken Communication Electronically
Transmitted
1. After face-to-face communication, spoken
communication electronically transmitted over
phone lines is second highest in information
richness.
allow access to body language and facial
expressions, managers are able to pay attention to
4. Voice mail systems also allow managers to
send and receive verbal electronic messages.
LO 13-3: Define
information
richness, and
describe the
information
richness of
communicati
on media
available to
managers.
POWERPOINT SLIDES 13-
20 TO 13-29
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
a. Such systems are a necessity when
managers are away from their desks or out of
the office.
D. Personally Addressed Written Communication
1. Although lower in information richness,
personally addressed written communication such
as memos or letters has the advantage of
demanding attention, as does face-to–face
communication and verbal communication
electronically submitted.
2. Because personally addressed written
message in a way that the receiver is most likely
to understand.
3. Like voice mail, written communication does
4. Even if managers use face-to-face
communication, a follow-up in writing is often
needed.
5. E-mail also fits into this category because
senders and receivers are communicating through
personally addressed written words.
6. E-mail has enabled many workers and
managers to become telecommuters.
employed by organizations and work out of
offices in their own homes. Many
telecommuters say the flexibility of
telecommuting enables them to be more
productive while giving them a chance to be
closer to their families.
develop a clear policy specifying what
company e-mail should be used for and what
is out of bounds.
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
b. Managers also should clearly communicate
this policy to all members of an organization.
c. Employees should also be informed of
procedures that will be used when e-mail
abuse is suspected and the consequences that
will result when e-mail abuse is confirmed.
E. Impersonal Written Communication
2. Feedback is unlikely, so managers must make
sure that messages are written clearly in language
that all receivers will understand.
employees.
5. The paper trail left by this communication
proliferation, and electronic mailboxes of
is the possibility that important information will
be overlooked and productivity will be lost due to
time wasted on tangential information.
8. Some manager use blogs to communicate with
employees, customers, investors, and the general
public. A blog is a website in which an individual,
TEXT REFERENCE
Ethics in Action:
and organizations with tools
to track the websites their
employees visit and the
email and social media
messages they send. Indeed,
some believe that monitoring
company information,
Essentially this dilemma
involves issues of trust.
Given that there is no federal
legislation to protect
employees from having their
companies monitor
company-supplied machines,
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
13–15
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
with their own commentary and opinions.
9. A social networking site is a website that enables
people to communicate with others with whom they
have some common interest or connection. Although it
can be used for business purposes, some managers are
concerned that employees will waste time using these
sites for personal purposes.
IV. Advances In Information Technology
Computer-based information technology can greatly
facilitate and improve the communication process.
A. The Effects of Advancing IT
1. The IT revolution began with the development of
the first computers—the hardware of IT—in the 1950s.
2. Many managers and companies that helped develop
the new IT have reaped enormous gains. However,
while many companies have benefited from advancing
IT, others have been threatened.
3. Traditional landline telephone companies have seen
their market dominance threatened by new companies
offering Internet, broadband, and wireless telephone
technology.
B. IT and the Product Life Cycle: IT affects the length of
the product life cycle, which is the way demand for a
product changes in a predictable pattern over time.
1. In the embryonic stage a product has yet to gain
widespread acceptance.
2. In the growth stage many consumers are entering
the market and buying the product for the first time,
and demand increases rapidly.
3. The growth stage ends and the maturity stage
begins when market demand peaks. At this stage,
themselves can take steps to
protect their own privacy.
For example, when sending
sensitive or personal
information, employees can
use their own equipment
(such as private cell phone or
laptop) and an outside Wi-Fi
provider so that their
employing organization
cannot access the
information. Employees also
need to be careful about what
email messages they send
and avoid sending private
and sensitive email on
workplace systems. Once
email messages are sent, they
live on in the recipients’
computers and systems and
can potentially come back to
haunt senders or be
subpoenaed in a court of law.
(pp. 454-455)
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
C. The Network of Computing Power
1. A network consists of interlinked computers that
exchange information.
2. The most common arrangement now is a four-tier
network consisting of external mobile computing
devices, desktops and laptops, servers, and a
mainframe.
3. First in the network are clients—the personal
computers (PCs) that sit on the desks of individual
users. These are linked to a local server.
4. At the hub of a four-tier system are mainframe
computers.
of information.
b. The mainframe can also be used to handle
electronic communications between personal
computers situated in different LANs.
c. A mainframe may be connected to other
mainframes in other organizations, and through
them, to LANs in other organizations.
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
hardware how to run.
b. Applications software, such as programs for
word processing or database management, is
software developed for a specific task or use.
c. The increase in the power of computer hardware
has allowed software developers to write
increasingly powerful programs that are, at the
same time, user friendly.
V. Types Of Management Information Systems
Six types of computer-based management information
systems are particularly helpful in providing managers
with the information they need: transaction-processing
systems, operations information systems, decision support
systems, expert systems, enterprise resource planning
systems, and e-commerce systems.
A. The Organizational Hierarchy: The Traditional
Information System
1. Traditionally, managers have used the
organizational hierarchy as the main system for
gathering the information necessary to make decisions
and coordinate and control activities.
2. In the 1850s railroads, the largest of all industrial
organizations, faced unique problems of coordination
and control. To deal with these problems, they
information they needed to achieve coordination,
control, and make decisions.
3. Regular daily and monthly reports were fed up the
4. Hierarchy, as an information system, has several
drawbacks.
and for decisions to travel down.
b. Also, this system can cause information
Chapter 13 – Communication and Information Technology Management
McGraw-Hill Education.
distortion—changes in meaning that occur as
information passes through a series of senders and
receivers.
c. Maintaining this system can become very
expensive.
B. Transaction-Processing Systems
1. A transaction-processing system is a MIS
designed to handle large volumes of routine, recurring
transactions.
2. Transaction-processing systems began to appear in
the early 1960s and were the first type of computer-
based information system adopted by many
organizations.
3. Most managers in large organizations use a
transaction-processing system to handle tasks such as
payroll and customer billing.
C. Operations Information Systems
1. An operations information system is a system that
gathers comprehensive data, organizes it, and
summarizes it into a form that it has value for
managers.
2. It provides managers with information they can use
3. Most operations information systems are coupled
with a transaction-processing system.
D. Decision Support Systems
1. A decision support system is an interactive
computer-based system that provides models that help
managers make better nonprogrammed decisions.
2. Model-building capabilities provide managers with
the ability to manipulate information in a variety of
managers. Rather, their function is to provide
LO 13-4: Differentiate
among six
kinds of
management
information
systems
POWERPOINT SLIDES 13-
35 TO 13-46