Information Technology and Investment Banking

I. Current Operational Information Systems

A. Computers are often linked through networks to provide information to geographically dispersed individuals.

B. Broadband networks make it possible to send multimedia "documents" within an office or around the world.

II. Impact of Information Technology on Organizational Performance

A. Productivity typically improves when information technology is implemented and upgraded.

B. Data integrity is improved when information technology is effectively implemented.

C. There may be some displacement of workers as technology permeates a workplace.

A. Continued advancement in hardware and software capabilities will mean greater use of information technology.

B. Costs are likely to continue to decrease.

IV. Impact of Information Technology on Investment Banking

A. Networks increase the amount and type of information shared among companies and their clients.

B. Broadband networks increase the effective use of the Internet.

C. Products such as ComStock and Maxus provide effective ways of manipulating and presenting data to employees and to clients.

Information technology provides companies with the ability to process large amounts of information and do so in a way which presents the information in a clear and concise manner to employees. Anticipated benefits of implementing an information technology system include improvements in productivity, better profit performance, and

ost important effects of information technology is the impact it has on workers in the organization. These effects are most profoundly felt when an organization moves from a manual system to an automated system, but there are also critical effects which can be felt by individuals when an existing system is upgraded. Productivity is typically improved as new technology is introduced to an organization, but such improvements are not seen immediately. There is a "learning curve" associated with technology which actually results in a loss of productivity immediately after new technology is implemented. Once that learning curve is passed, the productivity gains can be significant enough so that the company can eliminate some positions, or relocate workers to other areas of the organization (Neil, 1998, p. 73). Another benefit associated with information technology is the integrity of data. Instead of individuals relying on manual information, they are able to use the computer to perform sometimes complicated calculations. In addition, many information systems permit read-only access, which means that while many individuals may have access to information, only a few have the ability to change or manipulate that information. This

Category: Economics - I