Knowledge that Transforms

This article explores the nature of cryptographic transformation and its application to the protection of data contained in files used by computer-based information systems. It presents some of the basic concepts of cryptography and structures of taxonomy of cryptographic transformations. The implications of computer oriented implementations of cryptographic protection are explored and the significance of such transformations for information systems is discussed.

Technical managers of MIS appear to have only two problems: End user requirements continually evolve;Vendor product offerings are in constant flux. In other words, everything is subject to somewhat unpredictable change from all sides at once. This is the quintessence of unmanageability. The excitement and adventure of the situation are more than offset by the excessive costs of development and maintenance which accrue to those who are trying to provide an MIS of consistently high quality. One company which performs MIS and conventional data processing services for more than 400 hospitals was able to design, implement and maintain a rather complete set of functional interface standards for all software run on its central processing facility. Seven primary functional types were identified and implemented over a five year period with an expenditure of more than 50 person-years of effort. User profile management and user data distribution were the two best developed and most essential standard interfaces. The diversity of client characteristics and of output media which can be handled through the interfaces has made possible an extraordinary corporate growth rate in excess of 25% per year, with a corresponding expansion in client base and MIS services. The management ramifications and the technological outcomes of this MIS stabilizing project are the complementary subjects of this paper.

The failure of the MIS idea to achieve its ultimate goal of informing managers rests in the single wrong assumption that the manager can define his information needs prior to the time for decision making. If the assumption were true, then management could be implemented by automata. Because it is not true, the conventional MIS maximum capability is to produce hackneyed status reports based upon technocrats’ perceptions of what the manager needs; its minimum capability is coughing up answers to irrelevant, unasked questions. This spectrum from impotence to mediocrity cannot be usefully extended to meet managements’ needs because the design strategy is wrong. A proper design strategy for providing managers with relevant information for choosing courses of action recognizes the principle of variety reduction, and that human beings have unique and peculiar ways of reducing variety in noisy information circumstances. Assuming that the distinguishing feature, beyond luck, of the successful executive vs. the controller, is creativity, including novel and non-structured uses of information, then any structured reporting system will fail to meet his needs. This article describes the design criteria for and the successful implementation of a system to support decision making in an information rich and volatile environment: the Independent Practice Association form of Health Maintenance Organization. Issues of cost and quality of medical care, the measurement of professional practice, the assumption of risk, etc., combine with an abundance of difficult data processing procedures to make this job a worthy challenge, and its successful implementation a model for complex organizations.

The concept of using critical decisions as a basis for defining Information needs has been suggested by several authors. This article reports on results of a decision-oriented approach to planning for MIS. A structured group process is used to generate both critical decisions and Information needs for a manufacturing firm. Results indicate that the decision approach is effective, particularly for organizational units that are line oriented.

“Distributed Data Processing” (DDP) is examined from a technological, organizational, and economic perspective. DDP projections are made for the 1980’s as are recommendations for capitalizing on and minimizing the risks of this emerging technology.

The orientation of an information systems department is influenced by the emphasis shown in the manager’s activities. Each incident in the manager’s daily work is another bead strung on a necklace. The choice of what type of bead it should be is up to the manager. Every incident permits a choice of emphasis: either a systems professional or a user community orientation. Recent analyses suggest that a new breed of information systems manager must emerge for advanced systems in organizations. Some of these analyses emphasize the user view without pointing to the continuing need for systems competence. Lest the pendulum swing too far in the opposite direction by ignoring technical aspects, this analysis suggests that the emerging information systems manager must bring a “balanced” systems and user orientation to the position. In so doing, the manager establishes the organizational climate in which the information systems activity proceeds.