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Careers in Information Management
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- KEY TAKEAWAYS
- EXERCISE
- 15.8 Cases and Problems
- CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
- ETHICS ANGLE (AACSB)
- TEAM-BUILDING SKILLS (AACSB)
- THE GLOBAL VIEW (AACSB)
15.7 Careers in Information ManagementLEARNING OBJECTIVE
The number and variety of opportunities in the IS field have grown substantially as organizations have expanded their use of IT. In most large organizations, the senior management team includes a chief information officer (CIO) who oversees information and telecommunications systems. A large organization might also have a chief technology officer who reports to the CIO and oversees IT planning and implementation. Most entry-level IS jobs require a business degree with a major in information systems. Many people supplement their IS majors with minors in computer science or some other business area, such as accounting, finance, marketing, or operations management.
EXERCISE(AACSB) Reflective Skills Why is studying IT important to you as a student? How will competency in this area help you get and keep a job in the future? [1] “Careers at Kraft: Information Systems,” Kraft Foods,http://www.kraftfoods.com/careers/careers/systems.htm (accessed June 2, 2006).
LEARNING ON THE WEBTaking Care of Your Cyber Health It seems that some people have nothing better to do than wreak havoc by spreading computer viruses, and as a computer user, you should know how to protect yourself from malicious tampering. One place to start is by reading the article “How Computer Viruses Work,” by Marshall Brain, which you can access by going to the How Stuff Works Web site (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm). After reading the article, answer the following questions:
CAREER OPPORTUNITIESCould You Manage a Job in IT or IS? Do you have an aptitude for dealing with IT? Would you enjoy analyzing the information needs of an organization? Are you interested in directing a company’s Internet operations or overseeing network security? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then a career in IT and IS might be for you. Go to the U.S. Department of Labor Web site (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos258.htm) and learn more about the nature of the work, qualifications, and job outlook in IT and IS management. Bearing in mind that many people who enter the IT field attain middle-management positions, look for answers to the following questions:
ETHICS ANGLE (AACSB)Campus Commando or Common Criminal? Do you want to be popular (or at least more prominent) on campus? You could set up a Web site that lets fellow students share music files over the campus network. All you have to do is seed the site with some of your own downloaded music and let the swapping begin. That’s exactly what Daniel Peng did when he was a sophomore at Princeton. It was a good idea, except for one small hitch: it was illegal, and he got caught. Unimpressed with Peng’s technological ingenuity, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sued him, and he was forced to settle for $15,000. Instead of delivering music, Peng’s Web site now asks visitors to send money to help defray the $15,000 and another $8,000 in legal costs. To learn more about the case, read these articles from the Daily Princetonian: “Peng, RIAA Settle Infringement Case” (http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2003/05/02/8154/), and “Peng '05 Sued by Recording Industry for ‘Wake’ Site” (http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2003/04/04/7791). After researching the topic, answer the following questions:
Source: Josh Brodie, “Peng, RIAA Settle Infringement Case,” The Daily Princetonian, http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2003/05/02/8154/ (accessed November 14, 2011); Zachary Goldfarb and Josh Brodie, “Peng '05 Sued by Recording Industry for ‘Wake’ Site,” The Daily Princetonian http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2003/04/04/7791/ (accessed November 14, 2011). TEAM-BUILDING SKILLS (AACSB)CampusCupid.com It’s no secret that college can be fun. For one thing, you get to hang around with a bunch of people your own age. Occasionally, you want to spend time with just one special someone, but finding that special person on a busy campus can take some of the fun out of matriculating. Fortunately, you’re in the same love boat with a lot of other people, so one possible solution—one that meshes nicely with your desire to go into business—is to start an online dating service that caters to your school. Inasmuch as online dating is nothing new, you can do some preliminary research. For example, go to the Internet news Web site (http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/2228891/Online+Personals+Big+Profits+Intense+Competition.htm) and read the article “Online Personals: Big Profits, Intense Competition.” Next, you and several of your classmates should work as a team to create a business model for an online dating service at your school. After working out the details, submit a group report that covers the following issues:
THE GLOBAL VIEW (AACSB)“Hong Kong—Traditional Chinese” Hewlett-Packard (HP) provides technology solutions to individuals, businesses, and institutions around the world. It generates annual revenues of $80 billion from the sale of IT products, including computers, printers, copiers, digital photography, and software. Anyone in the United States who wants to buy an HP product, get technical support, download software, learn about the company, or apply for a job can simply go to the HP Web site. But what if you live in Hong Kong? How would you get answers to your questions? You’d do the same thing as people in this country do—go to HP’s Web site. Try to imagine, however, the complex process of developing and maintaining a Web site that serves the needs of customers in more than seventy countries. To get a better idea, go to the HP Web site (http://www.hp.com). Start by looking at HP’s line of notebooks and checking its prices. Then, review the company information (click on “About HP” in the bottom right) that’s posted on the site, and, finally, look for a job—it’s good practice (click on “Jobs” in the bottom right). Now pretend that you live in Hong Kong and repeat the process. Start by going to the same HP Web site (http://www.hp.com). Click on the United States (next to U.S. flag in the bottom left) and then Asia and Oceania. If you can read Chinese, click on “Hong Kong—Traditional Chinese.” Otherwise, click on “Hong Kong—English.” Then, answer the following questions:
Chapter 16 The Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business Whatever Happened to…George McGovern? You may or may not have heard of George McGovern. [1] A professor of history in his home state of South Dakota, he was elected to Congress in 1956 and to the U.S. Senate in 1962. He was a prominent opponent of the war in Vietnam and became the Democratic Party nominee for president in 1972. His run for the presidency failed (he lost in a landslide), and he remained in the Senate until 1980. After more than a quarter century as a lawmaker, he then entered private life, serving on a few boards and giving a lot of lectures. In 1988, McGovern and his wife Eleanor decided to go into business, so they purchased a small hotel in the city of Stratford, Connecticut. At first, the onetime politician was enlightened by life as a small business owner. “I wish I’d done this before I’d run for president,” he said in early 1990, “It would have given me insight into the anxiety any independent businessman…must have….Now I’ve had to meet a payroll every week. I’ve got to pay the bank every month. I’ve got to pay the state of Connecticut taxes….It gives you a whole new perspective on what other people worry about.” Before the end of the year, the Stratford Inn went bankrupt and McGovern’s otherwise educational venture into the world of small-business ownership had come to an abrupt end. What happened? McGovern observed in retrospect that the terms of his lease weren’t particularly good and that New England was on the verge of severe recession just as he was starting up his enterprise. But the knockout blow, he maintains, was delivered in the legal arena. During McGovern’s tenure as owner, the Stratford was sued twice under laws governing premises liability—the duty of innkeepers to take reasonable care in preventing customers and third parties from being injured on their property. There’s a subcategory called “slip-and-fall,” laws because slipping and falling are at the heart of so many premises-liability lawsuits. In McGovern’s case, one lawsuit actually did involve a slip and fall (and an allegedly serious injury) in the parking lot of the hotel. In the other incident, a patron got into a fight when he came out of the hotel bar and sued the Stratford for failure to provide adequate security. A security guard was in fact on duty, but McGovern argues that few small businesses can furnish the kind of protection needed to prevent fights outside a bar. Both lawsuits were dismissed, but, as McGovern points out, “not without a first-rate legal defense that did not come cheaply.” In an article written for Inc. magazine a couple of years later, McGovern acknowledged a few more lessons from his brief experience as a small businessman: “I learned first of all that over the past 20 years, America has become the most litigious society in the world.” He acknowledged the rationale behind premises-liability laws, “but it does seem to me,” he suggested, “that not every accident or fall or misfortune is the fault of the business at which it occurs.” Recalling that the Stratford was also required to meet “fire regulations more appropriate to the Waldorf-Astoria,” McGovern went on to report the second lesson he learned as owner of the Stratford Inn: that “legislators and government regulators must more carefully consider the economic and management burdens we have been imposing on U.S. business.” McGovern’s eyes, it seems, had been opened after forty months as a small-business proprietor, and in the aftermath, he narrowed his focus to two problem areas for the small-business owner trying to survive in the highly complex legal environment of the United States. The first area falls under the heading of administrative law—law pertaining to rules set down by any of the numerous agencies and departments created to administer federal or local law. McGovern happily confirms his commitment to such worthy social goals as worker safety and a clean environment, but he’s also convinced that we can pursue these goals “and still cut down vastly on the incredible paperwork, the complicated tax forms, the number of tiny regulations, and the seemingly endless reporting requirements that afflict American business.” He’s also targeted what he regards as unnecessary burdens placed on business by statutory law—laws enacted by legislative branches of government (such as the U.S. Congress, of which he was a member for nearly three decades). In particular, as a survivor of two premises-liability suits, McGovern has become an advocate of tort reform—a movement to stem the swelling tide of personal-injury litigation in the United States. Americans, he charges, “sue one another at the drop of a hat, [and] lawsuits without merit…are hurting both the economy and decency of our society.” Business suffers because businesses hold most of the insurance policies at which liability litigation is aimed. With each settlement, premiums surge, and many businesses, especially smaller ones, argues McGovern, “simply can’t pass such costs on to their customers and remain competitive or profitable….If I were back in the U.S. Senate or in the White House,” he concludes, “I would ask a lot of questions before I voted for any more burdens on the thousands of struggling businesses across the nation.” [1] This vignette is based on the following sources: George McGovern, “What I Know Now: Nibbled to Death,” Inc, December 1993,http://www.inc.com/magazine/19931201/3809.html (accessed November 11, 2011); McGovern, “Freedom Means Responsibility,” Wall Street Journal Online, March 7, 2008,http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120485275086518279.html (accessed November 11, 2011); Jack Schultz, “Being a Small Business Owner Isn’t Easy—Ask George,”BoomtownUSA, February 28, 2005,http://boomtownusa.blogspot.com/2005_02_01_archive.html (accessed November 11, 2011). 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