Applied Business Computing Concepts, An Essential Guide to Information Systems 2.5 by Matthew J. McCarthy

Description

This book has sold thousands of copies at colleges and universities and is now available in a Kindle format for the first time!

In my experience teaching core information technology classes to thousands of university business students at the undergraduate level, I am often posed with the same question; why do I have to know this? Why does an accounting major need to know the difference between a motherboard and a keyboard? Applied Business Computing Concepts answers this question in every chapter as well as other questions like; what’s important to know, and how does it relate to business?

It goes without saying that information technology (IT) courses through our daily lives and is an essential part of business. In fact, IT is so incredibly broad, that it becomes extremely difficult to know what’s worth knowing, and what’s not, especially in a business environment. A university student in a business school might legitimately ask why anyone needs to know the differences between a Windows and Mac operating system. When that same business student eventually becomes the director of a large marketing department and is faced with the prospect of buying two thousand new computers for business applications and graphics, choosing the right operating system becomes critical. This is not to say that Applied Business Computing Concepts will make that student an expert at all facets of computing, but will certainly make them an intelligent part of the conversation and begin to prepare them for business decisions relating to computing.

Once the first question is answered, the next question is obvious; given the fact that IT is so broad, what should a business student know? The answer starts with the introduction of important baseline concepts of information technology and business, and demonstrates their interrelated dependency on one another. Applied Business Computing Concepts defines these dependencies, and then expands them with real-world examples and applications. This book introduces computing concepts, defines those concepts, and then relates them to business. Applied Business Computing Concepts is specifically designed to be repetitive in nature. Many baseline concepts like networking, storage and connectivity are not limited to a single chapter. This book introduces and defines hundreds of concepts throughout the book and is able analogize them in many different contexts and examples. Students will be able grasp information and evolve their understanding of how information technology and business are interrelated to prepare them for successful academic careers in a business school setting.

About the Author
Matt McCarthy is a Senior Lecturing Professor at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business in the Department of Information Systems. Matt has taught a wide array of computing courses at the undergraduate level, from advanced database theory to business programming languages to core business computing, which is the inspiration of the Applied Business Computing Concepts series. Matt has designed and taught the required core business information technology computing course at ASU to thousands of students over the past many years. In his spare time, he and his wife Theresa play tennis, travel, windsurf, kite surf, ski, cycle, and take photographs of the outdoors.