THE REALITY BEHIND SYSTEM SUCCESS...Steven Alter's Information Systems: Foundation of E-Business, fourth edition, emphasizes the essential role information systems play in today's successful businesses. Viewing information systems from a business perspective, is essential for understanding how e-commerce and e-business really work and for appreciating why technology is not a magic bullet that solves all problems. Most current business practices rely on IT, but successful application of any technology involves much more than the technology itself. Today's managers need a way to understand and evaluate the impact and use of technology in their businesses. This book is an indispensable tool for business and IT students because it: *provides a rigorous, yet non-technical approach, that any manager, executive, or business professional can use to visualize and analyze system-related opportunities and problems that confront almost every company in today's economy. *presents a practical, straightforward approach for attaining business results, recognizing possibilities, and avoiding the wasted time and effort consumed by technology initiatives that never achieve their goals.*combines the vocabulary of today's technologies with problem solving tools and methods that business and IT students can continue to use in the future. This text's updated coverage of the work system framework and principles, e-business and e-commerce, value and supply chains, ERP systems, networks, and system security, help explain how technology applications make a difference. Its companion web site (www.prenhall.com/alter) extends the book's coverage. The balance of theory and practice in this text makes Information Systems: Foundation of E-Business, fourth edition, a resource that business and IT students can use even after new generations of technology have replaced those of today.