IT Capabilities are Technical Skills
IT Capabilities are Technical Skills
An IS infrastructure (a concept that is discussed in detail in Chapter 6) is an IT asset. It includes each of an information resource’s constituent components (i.e., data, technology, people, and processes). The infrastructure provides the foundation for the delivery of a firm’s products or services. Another IT asset is an information repos- itory, which is logically related data captured, organized, and retrieved by the firm. Some information repositories are filled with internally oriented information designed to improve the firm’s efficiency. Other repositories tap the external environment and contain significant knowledge about the industry, the competitors, and the customers. Although most firms have these types of information repositories, not all firms use them effectively.
In the continually expanding Web space, the view of IT assets is broadening to include potential resources that are available to the firm but that are not necessarily owned by it. These additional information resources are often available as a service rather than as a system to be procured and implemented internally. For example, Internet‐ based software (also called software as a service, or SAAS), such as SalesForce.com, offers managers the opportu- nity to find new ways to manage their customer information with an externally based IT resource. Social networking systems such as Facebook and LinkedIn offer managers the opportunity to find expertise or an entire network of individuals ready to participate in the corporate innovation processes using relatively little capital or expense.
The three major categories of IT capabilities are technical skills, IT management skills, and relationship skills. Technical skills are applied to designing, developing, and implementing information systems. IT management skills are critical for managing the IS department and IS projects. They include an understanding of business processes, the ability to oversee the development and maintenance of systems to support these processes effectively, and the ability to plan and work with the business units in undertaking change.
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
