Resumen

ARELLANO RODRIGUEZ, Madelein. Informations Systems: Adaptation to Technological Changes or Management Tool?. Revista de Ciencias Sociales [online]. 2008, vol.14, n.3, pp.546-560. ISSN 1315-9518.

The advance of new technologies propitiates the development and integration of information systems in a private or public organization, with the purpose of optimizing management through appropriate decision making. This study proposes to establish the distinction between designing an information system to adapt to technological changes and conceiving it as a management tool. A documentary investigation was carried out regarding the characterization of information systems and the formulation of management indicators. A disconnection appears between the person who designs the system (technician) and the person who utilizes the information (decision maker), since during development of the system, goals do not become shared and the search for individual objectives prevails. The technician possesses key information for design and tends to create relationships of technological superiority. Conclusions are that a technological up-dating, in the case of public institutions, requires adaptation to its specific requirements, which is a joint responsibility of the technician and the manager as key actors in system development. In this way, the capacity of the information system and its results contribute to use as a management tool, both for the decision makers as well as for the beneficiaries of the organization.

Palabras clave : Information technologies; information systems; management control; management indicators; public sector.