Finance and Accounting
Poor data quality and software errors can have a devastating
impact on the firm’s financial and accounting systems because
errors in these systems can easily lead to huge losses. Financial and accounting systems are prime targets for fraud and computer
crime, as are the specialized financial systems of financial
and banking institutions. One growing area of computer crime
is securities fraud over the Internet.
Human Resources
Developing and enforcing a corporate ethics policy and procedures
that balance the need to run the business responsibly
and efficiently with the need to safeguard employee privacy,
health, and well-being has become an important
responsibility of the human resources function. Employees
and their managers may need special training to sensitize
them to the new ethical issues surrounding information systems,
such as personal use of the Internet or corporate systems
or copying digital material and software. You can find
examples of human resources applications and issues on
pages 147, 171, and 179–181.
Manufacturing and Production
Economic prosperity and the quality of daily life are highly
dependent on the smooth and accurate flow of information
among disparate manufacturing and production systems. Data quality problems and software errors in one system can affect
the performance of other systems inside the firm and the performance
of suppliers, distributors, and logistics services that
depend on information from these systems.
Sales and Marketing
The Internet has provided powerful new ways of reaching customers and gathering
information about them to provide more targeted marketing and products.
Information about consumers’ activities is marketing gold—and often a critical
success factor—for companies doing business online. However, the customer
information that is required to create a personalized Web experience raises
serious privacy concerns because contemporary information technology makes
it so easy for businesses to monitor online behavior and assemble highly
detailed profiles of individual consumers. You can find examples of sales
and marketing applications on page 171.
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