The information systems for a large manufacturing firm will be complex systems that need to be managed, and if they aren’t managed well they can fail. Management of information systems is very important and is often overlooked as an important aspect of being a leader.
The problem is that this isn’t all that easy to do. In fact, it is so complicated that the best information systems are often managed by managers who have never led teams of employees or had to manage a complex system. Which is why it is so important to learn the basics. This article by Eric Ries is a great start. You can also use the “what do I know” questions from a previous article to help you evaluate your information systems knowledge.
Information systems are the systems that help your company to communicate with its customers, keep track of its customers, and make decisions. The more information systems you have, the easier it is to share information, communicate, and make decisions.
It sounds like the information systems at your company are a mess. We don’t really understand what is going on, but we do know that the systems in place are not working, so it’s time you did something about it. It’s not just that your company is in trouble, it’s also that your information systems are totally broken. To fix it, you need to learn the basics.
The information systems you manage for a large manufacturing firm have a lot of redundant systems, and the ones that are working aren’t working. Your company just can’t afford to know the right information, because there is too much information to keep track of, and there is also too much information for any department to keep track of. You need to learn how to manage and organize the information so it makes sense for you and your company.
I’m sure you’ve heard the old saying, “The system is broken, but the people are always right.” This is actually true. The vast majority of the systems in a company are broken. They’re either mismanaged, or they’re not even working. So how do you fix it? The answer is simple. The first thing you need to do is get the people in charge of the information systems working on fixing the problems.
Many large companies use a “project management” approach, in which the team members work on the problem or idea for a while, and then a “project manager” handles the implementation. However, the reality is that most large companies do not have these types of managers. These managers are the people who are in charge of putting things into place. They are the people who get the projects done.
So in order to fix the information systems problem, the people in charge of the information systems need to work on the information systems. Which leads us to our next point.
In the late 1990’s, we started a group that worked on information systems. We called this group the ‘Information Systems Community.’ We were able to get a lot of things done at a very small cost. However, there were always the same problems. For example, there was often a lack of communication among the different types of people involved. The communication that was needed was always a bit different.
I remember the first time I asked a senior executive if he knew about this group and he thought that I was asking about the information systems.