Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (9th Edition) [Hardcover]

Kenneth C. Laudon (Author), Jane P. Laudon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0131538411 | ISBN-13: 978-0131538412 | Publication Date: March 1, 2005 | Edition: 9

For sophmore, junior, senior, and MBA-level MIS and Information Systems courses. These authoritative authors continue to define the MIS course by integrating coverage of essential new technologies, their applications, and their impact on managerial decisions.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 736 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 9 edition (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131538411
• ISBN-13: 978-0131538412
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #207,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent General Overview of the IT Industry as of 1/06., January 17, 2006

By 

SuccessEssence (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (9th Edition) (Hardcover)

I have never left a review on Amazon before (I've been a customer since 1997) and had no intention of doing so, when I initially searched this book description for some unrelated information.

However, after reading the previous two reviews related to this book I now feel compelled to give my review. Neither of the previous reviews had anything even remotely substantive regarding the actual material in the book. The only pertinent information the previous two reviewers touched upon concerned a typo. I challenge anyone to show me a 700+ page textbook that doesn't contain at least one typo.

The rest of the review pertains to the reviewer trying to grind an axe with regard to US programmers (which I am not). Maybe if he actually read the book, he would've left a different review. The other review is concerning a vendor/shipping issue.

I give this book 5 stars because I feel it is a good general overview source concerning the Information Technology industry at the time of this posting (1/06).

This book is well written and laid out in a very systematical and logical format, which allows the reader to reference the book "ala carte" style. If I want a refresher on networking or databases relating to the corporate world from a managerial perspective, this is a great source.

If you are looking to learn the latest version of Oracle or become certified in Linux, then I suggest looking elsewhere.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A new appreciation for bad., August 28, 2008

By 

Peter Smith "Andy the Vonnegut" (Newark, NJ, USA (The nice part of Newark... Really)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (9th Edition) (Hardcover)

First, some background. I recently had to use this text for an introductory MIS class that was a pre-requisite - I am studying for a Bachelors in Finance. I already have a degree in Electrical Engineering, and have taken several post-graduate level classes in insurance and risk management. I have worked as a business analyst and an IT Project Manager.

I have in the past had several classes with texts which are `Not Good.' However, it really takes a tome like Laudon to make you appreciate just how far even `Not Good' is from `Bad'. The closest analogy I can make is that reading this book is like watching, for the first time, a movie with such a ludicrous plot, with such wooden acting, with such terrible direction, that for the first time you realize that all other movies you have seen that you would previously have characterized as terrible were in fact, `Not Bad'.

I haven't smoked marijuana in several years now, but upon starting chapter one I immediately felt that sense of randomly wandering thought, jumping from topic to topic without any sense of direction or connection. The book just seems to be a big collection of non-sequitur following non-sequitur. Although there is some attempt made to organize the material, consider this. The first three chapters deal with `Managing The Digital Firm', `IS in the Enterprise', and `IS, Organizations, Management, and Strategy'. There really is no pedagogical distinction there. Chapters four and five continue with `The Digital Firm: e-business and e-commerce', and `Ethical and Social Issues in the Digital Firm'. Were I to sit down and write a book called `IT and Companies That Use IT and Kinda How They Use It' by simply spilling any random thought I might have on the topic onto paper, I believe I could come up with a better organized and more relevant text.

I want to agree with the prior reviewer who noted that the book is long on management speak and short on useful information. `Leverage' seems to be the feel good word for folks spewing BS at the moment, and there is no shortage of such usage in this text.

Unfortunately, if you're buying this book you likely need it for a class, and this review will not sway you. In closing, the only positive thing I can say for this book is that it reminded me of how stupid I used to get when I smoked grass. It's a shame one cannot give zero stars.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book and Relevant, June 5, 2010

By 

Joe Hand "Informed Reader" (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (9th Edition) (Hardcover)

This is a very good book, and I found it to be quite relevant. I've been in an IT management position for 20 years and this is one of the better books I've seen on the subject/topic.