Research Paper on:
Communications Technology and Information Systems

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
across the hall to around the world, would have been considered impossible. The explosive growth of information technologies, however - not to mention advances in communications technologies - has made  such communications a reality. What has not caught up quite as quickly is the use of communications technologies in an overall integrated organizational information system. For the most part, it  seems as though e-mail is e-mail - and its an ancillary system, rather than something on which a companys information system can be based on.  This paper will examine the challenges that have come about in trying to work communications technology into an informational system context, and provide some examples in industries  where this is starting to occur. Before beginning this paper, however, some definitions are in order. For purposes of our paper, communications  technology can be defined as ". . . any communication-related technology for moving data, such as electronic data/document transfer, electronic mail systems or local area network" (Choong and Varun, 1999,  p. 190). Information systems, on the other hand, are methods by which information is collected and integrated into organizational development. The Challenge  It has been noted that with industries and organizations developing less structured and simpler forms because of downsizing, business reengineering and structuring efforts, responses to environmental pressures have meant deeper  penetration of communications technologies within information systems (Choong and Varun, 1999). Despite this, however, its been difficult for many managers to link the idea of communications technologies as a basis  for information systems development and/or improvement. Analysts and experts have surmised that the average manager of a corporation has difficulties in viewing