Introduction to Information Technology [Hardcover]

Efraim Turban (Author), Richard E. Potter (Author), R. Kelly Rainer Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0471170658 | ISBN-13: 978-0471170655 | Edition: 1

It makes your business soar! Without Information Technology (IT), the snowboard on the cover simply would never make it to the slopes. As you read Introduction to Information Technology, you'll discover that IT integrates and enhances all functions of a business-from the research and development that goes into designing a faster, more flexible board, to the delivery systems that make sure stores receive stock in time for winter, to the point-of-sale systems that track sales trends and customers' buying preferences. Written in language you can easily understand, the text gradually presents complex technical information on a need-to-know basis, so that you won't get overwhelmed by the details. Each chapter is filled with dozens of real-world examples that demonstrate IT's relevance to different disciplines, industries, and companies. Throughout the text, you'll also find numerous opportunities to apply what you've learned. Features
* Relevance: The authors explain why IT is important to all individuals and functions within an organization by relating topics to specific business majors (finance, marketing, MIS, production/operations, HR, etc.).
* Real-World Examples: Extensive examples show you the capabilities of IT, its cost and justifications, and innovative ways actual corporations are using IT in their operations.
* Global Perspective: The text explains how IT facilitates export and import, managing multinational companies, and electronic trading around the globe.
* Integrated Systems: Integrated systems (e.g. SAP R/3; extranets) are stressed and related to supply chain management and multinational corporations.
* Making Connections: The text emphasizes the importance of connections among individuals, groups, and organizations, and the support that IT provides in enabling these connections.
* The Web: In addition to teaching the fundamentals of the Internet, the text presents a comprehensive chapter on e-commerce. All chapters include Web-based, real-world applications, "integration with the Web" exploration, and Internet exercises.
* The Virtual Company: A Web-based case for a simulated company manufacturing snowboards enables you to create and operate a small business a small business on the Web.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

It makes your business soar! Without Information Technology (IT), the snowboard on the cover simply would never make it to the slopes. As you read Introduction to Information Technology, you'll discover that IT integrates and enhances all functions of a business-from the research and development that goes into designing a faster, more flexible board, to the delivery systems that make sure stores receive stock in time for winter, to the point-of-sale systems that track sales trends and customers' buying preferences. Written in language you can easily understand, the text gradually presents complex technical information on a need-to-know basis, so that you won't get overwhelmed by the details. Each chapter is filled with dozens of real-world examples that demonstrate IT's relevance to different disciplines, industries, and companies. Throughout the text, you'll also find numerous opportunities to apply what you've learned. Features
* Relevance: The authors explain why IT is important to all individuals and functions within an organization by relating topics to specific business majors (finance, marketing, MIS, production/operations, HR, etc.).
* Real-World Examples: Extensive examples show you the capabilities of IT, its cost and justifications, and innovative ways actual corporations are using IT in their operations.
* Global Perspective: The text explains how IT facilitates export and import, managing multinational companies, and electronic trading around the globe.
* Integrated Systems: Integrated systems (e.g. SAP R/3; extranets) are stressed and related to supply chain management and multinational corporations.
* Making Connections: The text emphasizes the importance of connections among individuals, groups, and organizations, and the support that IT provides in enabling these connections.
* The Web: In addition to teaching the fundamentals of the Internet, the text presents a comprehensive chapter on e-commerce. All chapters include Web-based, real-world applications, "integration with the Web" exploration, and Internet exercises.
* The Virtual Company: A Web-based case for a simulated company manufacturing snowboards enables you to create and operate a small business a small business on the Web.

About the Author

Efraim Turban, California State University, Long Beach and City University of Hong Kong;
R. Kelly Rainer, Auburn University;
Richard Potter, University of Illinois at Chicago

Product Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (August 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471170658
• ISBN-13: 978-0471170655
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,669,042 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A textbook for college business majors (only?), November 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Introduction to Information Technology (Hardcover)

If you want a general IT book then don't even think about buying this one, despite its title. This is a textbook for college business majors, and looks at things from the business angle.

The book is less suitable for non-student readers. It is geared for use by a lecturer who can draw attention to the important concepts underlying the field of IT, and can steer students to useful supplementary material.

The book races across the surface of the whole field of IT. The authors have packed in a lot of material, but at a cost. The explanations may be good enough for students to answer a quiz about the various buzzwords, but there is not enough space here to cover anything in depth. The students, and you, may be left without a clear idea of what the words really mean.

At the other end of the scale, the book struggles to make plain the broad sweep of IT concepts. Although the authors try hard, ideas tend to get lost amidst the large number of factoids.

One book is never going to be enough to cover all of IT. Your choices are to be more selective about which area you want to learn about, to pick a book which is more clearly aimed at being a simple overview, or to buy this book and work really hard at following up its leads to other material to fill in the gaps.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A disservice to students and professors, December 17, 2007

By 

Tim Huffner (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introduction to Information Systems: Supporting and Transforming Business (Paperback)

It's a shame that such an expensive, college-level textbook written by three university members and published by Wiley could be so full of errors and sheer unprofessionalism. This review refers specifically to the 2007 edition of this book.

There are multiple glaring technical errors throughout the book and accompanying material. For instance, as a key example the book states that a 16 MHz Intel 80386 computer with 1MB of RAM and DOS 3.31 cost $5,200 without a monitor in 1998 (just nine years ago). This statement, and others that I noticed throughout the book, are wholly inaccurate and it is a real disservice that students are expected to learn false facts and misinformation. Typos and grammatical errors are also scattered amongst the material. Everything about the book and material seems hurriedly slapped together, with little consideration for proofreading. The PowerPoint slides likewise contain mistakes and seem cheaply done. On the accompanying site, ClubIT assignments are available and a number of these are also poorly thought out and unchecked for errors (sometimes complete questions are missing from the worksheets yet students are expected to answer follow-up questions based on the nonexistent material).

Aside from the technical errors throughout the book, I also found the writing to be tedious to read due to the monotonous-like style used. Also, so much material is discussed at such a rapid rate that it becomes impossible to comprehend all of it, but as the title suggests you do get a very general overview of information systems but not detailed information about any given technical subject.

Any positive aspects of this book will forever be overshadowed by its errors, and if I were a professor I would demand a full refund for every copy of this book purchased. A 2009 edition is in the works, but it remains unclear whether or not the new edition will fix any of the existing errors or if it will simply add more material onto the abundance of material already covered throughout the book. Either way, this edition was enough to convince me to stay away from any other books written by these authors.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This is a book for MIS...!!!, December 21, 2005

By 

Arul - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introduction to Information Technology (Hardcover)

This book is intended for a read on topics of MIS (Management Information Systems), a predominantly Management subject, that analyses solutions for Business challenges through the effective usage of Information Technology. Though it is titled differently, its coverage of the MIS topics is reasonably sufficient.