Corporate Information Systems Management: The Issues Facing Senior Executives

by F. Warren McFarlan and James L. McKenney

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870943472
• ISBN13: 9780870943478
• Release Date: October 1982
• Publisher: Irwin Professional Publishing
• Length: 211 Pages

Customer Reviews

Blew Away False Assumptions

This text was definitive the moment it was published. I knew 20 minutes into reading it that I had a very good book and had made an excellent purchase. After I read it, I mailed it to somebody in the industry with the highest recommendation, but that person never read it. It's a text. Few read textbooks. I do and I like to think others do, but hardly anybody does. I've learned to accept that because everybody is already over-stressed and they cannot bring themselves to undertake a project such as reading a bona fide textbook when they're already sleep deprived and their jobs are insecure. This text is pure real world cases with interpretation. It's information gold, although outdated somewhat now. One discovers that there's not anything close to perfection in corporate information systems and one quickly gives up any expectation that there ever will be anything close to perfection. There are loads of reasons why one should lower their expectations of their information systems. Of course, that sounds heretical. It goes against "being optimistic" as if optimism is a legitimate "best practice." It contradicts everything that the salespeople will tell us. But perhaps the hardware, software and standards are a couple hundred years too primitive. Also, extremely intelligent human labor is required, and they have to operate with incredible teamwork. Perhaps a few highly motivational speeches will knock that problem out of the park along with a couple team-building challenge courses. Let's face it, nobody believes in that but people pretend.

The Best Tome on the Topic

[This review applies to the 2003 updated version only]I have been searching, mostly in vain, for a text that will be useful in examining the strategic relationship of business and IT. There were some fine books written in the eighties and early nineties, but very little wisdom has been written since the advent of the networked office and the networked economy. There's tons of e-blather out there, but most was written during the 1997-2000 Internet frenzy that distorted all perspectives. This book is the first to give thoughtful coverage to problems and solutions in the alignment of business needs and IT initiatives. It covers legacy issues, conversion and compatibility, examining typical problems, noted failures, and best-of-breed solutions. It's not full of some egghead professor's theories and paradigms that give new names to old issues; instead it covers relevant case studies to make genuine points. This is not a "how-to" manual, but it is an essential overview. Every CIO should read this, and every CEO should read this and then critically examine the CIO, the IT staff, and its relationship to the business. If you are reasonably intelligent, you don't need to be IT-trained to appreciate most of the authors' points. Recommended.

Managing I.S. is an Part Science and part Art

The authors do a great job of addressing several issues relating to managing I.S. in a Corporate environment. Several chapters were excellent -- especially regarding the people and process sides of the I.S. world. Authors provide clear and concise information and insight. Other chapters are not as good -- for example the Electronic Commerce trends and opportunities are already dated, as they were pre-1999 examples and extremely dated in the Internet world. Book is "pricey" but worth one to add to your library.

Up to date and relevant, excellent strategic coverage.

This book provides a pragmatic framework for the strategic issues facing Information Technology managers. The authors have managed to keep up to date with the very recent developments in WEB and Client Server technology, remaining at all times in the context of seeking the benefits of IT for Business. The extensive use of detailed case studies place a real world context for the management theory espoused, which itself is drawn from many other sources (and adequately referenced.) This book can be used both as in introduction into the developing arena of IS/IT Management Theory, or as a reference material for CIO's looking fo inspiration. On the downside, the text can be heavy going and academic at times and could use better indexing of the Tables and Figures used. Reasonable value as a hardback - but a softcopy version would be an affordable must for any aspiring CIO.