MIS500 Foundations Of Information Systems: Reflective Report Assessment 3 Answer

Answer :

Foundation of information system

Introduction 

The following report corresponds to my personal learning process of the assessment provided on information technology. I will be using Kolb's Learning Cycle to reflect on the learning process of five modules provided in the assessment. Therefore, the reflective report will consist of four stages of the learning process; concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation, as per the respective Kolb's Learning Cycle model (Sudria et al., 2018). It will provide the overall learning experience I went through during the assessment of an information system in business operation. 

Fig 1: Kolb’s Learning Cycle

Source: (Morris, 2019)

Reflective observation

The reflective observation stage of Kolb’s Learning Cycle represents the personal reflection of the learner by reviewing the learning process (Forray et al., 2017). Every stage of Kolb’s Learning Cycle provides an overall experience the learner had while assessing the topic of study (Morris, 2019). In the assessment material, there were five modules that discuss the use of information systems in business organizations. The first module gave me information about the importance of information systems in various business operations and I learned about the agile practices that are used to address the disruption within a business organization due to rapid change in technological structure (Appendix 1). In the second module, I learned about knowledge management in a business and how information system helps in gaining competitive advantages for the business by improving the efficiency and productivity of the work. The third module of the assessment taught me about different business operations such as supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise resource management (ERP) using the help of information systems within an organization (Appendix 3). I learned how an information system helps a company to enhance its business intelligence. In module 4 I learned about analyzing the enterprise architecture and implementing suitable information system operations according to it so that it can produce useful results in the growth of the business (Appendix 4). Module 5 taught me about the ethical and legal issues related to the information system and the security measures that are used to avoid them (Appendix 5). In addition to that, I learned about reflective writing practices using Kolb's Learning Cycle which helped me a lot in writing this reflective report.

According to me, the assessment helped me a lot to gain in-depth knowledge about the information system and its operations and usage in business operation. From module 1 I learned about various agile practices that are used in a business organization to address the technological disruption in this rapidly advancing technological era (Appendix 1). From the second module, I learned about knowledge management which will help me in the future to enhance the efficiency of the organizational knowledge related to the business operations of the enterprise (Appendix 2). It will help in gaining competitive advantages for the business in the respective industry and the market (Ordóñez de Pablos & Lytras, 2018). Module 3 was very helpful in understanding the usage of information systems in organizational operations like ERP, SCM, CRM, and business intelligence (Appendix 3). From this, I learned about the importance of the information system in various business operations of a company. The discussion of module 4 helped me gain knowledge about enterprise architecture in detail (Appendix 4). This will help me in the future when I will be operating in information systems to implement the operation effectively so that it could promote the growth of the organization and its business operation (Santoro et al., 2018). While from module 5 I learned a lot about the security measures that need to be taken in order to avoid the legal and ethical issues in the information system within an organization (Appendix 5). From this module, I also learned about reflective writing using Kolb's Learning Cycle which I already implemented in this reflective report.

Abstract conceptualization

Abstract conceptualization is the process of drawing conclusions from the learning experience and conceptualizing them (Watson et al., 2019). From the first module, it can be said that the information system is a very useful and important part of a business organization as it helps the company to store and regulate the important information and data within the organization that helps in the business operation. Agile practices help in resolving the disruption in the business and maintain a productive and efficient flow of work within the organization (Appendix 1). In module 2 the process of knowledge management has been described (Appendix 2). From the discussion, it is clear that proper knowledge management helps in gaining competitive advantages in the business. Knowledge management helps in passing the knowledge to the employees and stakeholders so that the efficiency of their work and the productivity of the business can be enhanced. From module 3 it can be concluded that effective use of information systems helps in operating the business operations like SCM, ERP, and CRM. It also helps in improving business intelligence (Appendix 3). From module 4 it can be said that it is very important to properly understand the enterprise architecture before effectively implementing the information system operations in the business for getting the optimal results (Appendix 4). After going through module 5 it is clear that it is very important to ensure the security of the data within the information for avoiding ethical and legal issues. In addition to that module 5 discussion provided proper reflective writing practices using Kolb's Learning Cycle model which helps in professional reflective writings (Appendix 5).   

Active experimentation

In the active experimentation stage, the learner uses his knowledge that he gathered from the learning experience in practical real-life experiments (McCarthy, 2016). This is a reflective account of the future action plan that is developed on the basis of the learning process. I will utilize the knowledge I gained about agile practices in module 1 to operate the information system effectively for avoiding any disruption in the business operation. From module 2 I have learned about knowledge management and I will use this in the future for managing the knowledge within the organization properly for enhancing the productivity and efficiency of the work. This will help to gain competitive advantages in the business. I have gathered a detailed knowledge about various business operations like ERP, SCM, and CRM from module 3 which I will use in future for utilizing information system to manage the operations of these function within the company I will be working in and help the company to enhance their business intelligence through it. The knowledge I gathered about analyzing the enterprise architecture from module 4 will help me properly implement the most suitable operational strategy of the information system that will work in favor of the organization and the business. I will use the information about security measures that I gained from module 5 in the future for ensuring the security of the information system and its contents, that is, the data and information stored in the system for stopping any kind of unethical or illegal access. The Kolb's Learning Cycle that I learned about from module 5 will help me in future project works and professional careers to write reflective reports about learning processes.

Conclusion  

The above report provides a detailed reflective account of my learning process and the future action plan for utilizing the knowledge in professional real-life scenarios. From the report, the importance of information systems in business operations can be grasped. In the rapidly advancing technological culture, it is very important to effectively use the information system within a business organization so that the business can gain competitive advantages in the respective industry and enhance the sustainability and productivity of the organization in the respective business market. The assessment has helped me a lot learn about the information system and various factors related to it in a business operation which will be quite useful for me in future professional life.