Information systems management in practice

Imagine 2007: BlackBerrys buzz, outsourcing booms, and the Internet feels revolutionary. Into this landscape steps McNurlin’s eighth edition, a 640-page tome aimed at undergrads and grads with one IS course under their belts. (Prentice Hall knew its audience.) She sidesteps abstract theory for the gritty reality of IT management, structuring the book in four parts: leadership issues, essential technologies, traditional development, and knowledge-work systems. Why does this matter? Because most IT books preach; this one shows—via cases from FedEx to Cisco—how executives actually deploy tech amid chaos.

The real juice lies in those 75 cases. McNurlin, drawing from years consulting, spotlights innovative IT uses: knowledge management at Ernst & Young, wireless experiments pre-iPhone. It’s not sexy, but it’s evidence-based—no breathless hype, just 'here’s what Southwest Airlines did with yield management systems.' This grounds the reader: IT isn’t gadgets; it’s strategy. For business students, it’s a antidote to vaporware visions, teaching that success hinges on aligning tech with business pain points. (Parenthetically: who else was profiling e-business before it was ubiquitous?)

Structure shines. Part One tackles leadership—sourcing decisions, governance—asking: outsource or build? Parts Two and Three cover the tech stack: networks, ERP, legacy migraines. Part Four peers into the 'new economy' with customer relationship management and portals. Each chapter ends with review questions and cases, turning passive reading into active learning. It’s pedagogical gold for professors, forcing students to wrestle with trade-offs. McNurlin’s prose? Clear, no fluff. Sentences march forward, unadorned.

But here’s the rub: specificity breeds obsolescence. Published in 2007 (or 2008 reprints), it name-checks Windows Server 2003 and debates mainframes versus client-servers—quaint now, with cloud natives scoffing. The 'moving into the new economy' chapter touts early Web 2.0, but misses AI’s rise, cybersecurity’s ferocity, or agile’s dominance. Cases feel archival: innovative then, historical now. Worst: no voices from the global South or small firms; it’s Fortune 500 heavy, skewing toward American multinationals. This isn’t lazy thinking, but it’s a textbook blind spot—evidence from 2005 doesn’t prophesy 2026’s hyperscalers.

Does it change how you see IT management? Not radically—no sideways turns on familiar topics. But for novices, it’s essential scaffolding: why outsource? How measure ROI on knowledge systems? In a sea of trendy manifestos, McNurlin’s evidence-first approach endures. Update it with AWS cases, and it’d be a 5.0. As is, it’s a time capsule worth cracking—for history buffs or cash-strapped students. (Question: how many IT execs started here?)